Star Wars EndWar: First Contact
by RayTheJediWay
Summary: It is a time of great peril. The Rebellion is desperately forming an all-out attack on the Empire's Death Star, in order to bring peace to the galaxy. Meanwhile in the Outer Rim, an Imperial task force on it's way to demonstrate a new super-weapon, falls into a wormhole and appears millions of light-years away, and face a new enemy. Who will prevail? Only time will tell!
1. Chapter 1

"What was that?" The bridge crew was quickly looking about, many looking down at their consoles. Admiral Daala steadied herself. "Unknown ma'am. We're checking now." Daala shook her head, fighting the brief sense of dizziness. It seemed that the entire bridge crew had felt the same sudden shift. She did not have any idea what had happened but she hoped she got a report before – "Admiral, what happened?" The voice was soft but cold. A small hologram sprang up by her command post. "Lord Marek, my apologies, we seemed to have-" The hologram looked past Daala.

Lord Marek was a tall and imposing figure, hard eyes and so young... Daala tried to avoid Lord Marek as much as possible. Of course, there were worse assignments. She had lost many classmates in Lord Vader's fleet. Despite the destruction of the Death Star, Daala had never once faltered in her dedication to the New Order. She had protected the Maw Installation for over a decade before it fell. Her crew had seen her hold them together under some of the most withering assaults, never once raising her voice even in the heat of battle. She was a rock and the crew loved her for it. "What has happened, Admiral? I feel a disturbance in the Force." "I am about to get a report, Lord."  
Daala did not look up; instead she held out her hand and waited. Commander Kratas rushed over to the sensor crews and they handed him the report. He quickly passed it on to Daala and waited obediently by her side. Daala stared down at the report for a long moment, paused and then passed it back to Kratas. "My Lord, I believe that your presence is required on the bridge." "Oh?" There was a quiet threat to the word. "According to the report we are no where near our galaxy. All star charts report negative. Hyperspace and gravitic sensors also report negative." Marek was silent for a long moment. "Are you certain?" "I am having the report double checked but –"

Marek suddenly straightened and pointed to Daala. "Bring the fleet to battle alert. We will be under attack very soon." He turned away from the holo projector and disappeared, his back the last thing caught on the hologram as it vanished. Daala did not hesitate. She turned to face the bridge crew. "Bring us to battle stations. Raise combat shields and give me a detailed sensor sweep of the area, now." "Aye sir." Daala pointed to the report in Kratas's hand as she stalked over to the main screen. "Have those readings double checked. I want to make sure that it is accurate." "If it is, Admiral, this could mean we are thousands if not millions of light years from home." Kratas commented darkly as he followed his commander. "One thing at a time, Commander, let us find out where we are before we jump to conclusions." Daala responded softly as they reached the view screen.

Beneath them, the massive yet elegant bulk of the Iron Fist dominated the lower half of their view. The newest Invader-class ship, it was a command ship second to none. Not only did it carry the deadly super laser, it's hull was made out of the same materiel used to make Dark Trooper armor, which could heal it's self after absorbing a blow. It could also take the energy from the blast and transfer that into energy for the weapons or shields. It was also the first ship of it's kind to boast a cloaking device. Around them, several dagger shaped ships were in various escort positions around them. Their pearly white frames shining in the interstellar void. The Star Destroyers were slowly fanning out as their command ship called for battle stations. Daala noted with pride the string of TIE Defenders flowing out along side the Iron Fist, small almost insignificant dots against the enormous frame of the powerful warship. They flew with precision into flowing walls around the warships.

"Fighter screen in place, Admiral." Kratas reported. "Admiral, we're picking up an odd disturbance to the starboard." "Can you endeavor to be clearer?" Daala asked coolly. "I apologize ma'am. We've never seen anything like it. It seems to be objects out of phase with our space, they are approaching at super luminal speed, but it is definitely not hyperspace travel." "That's odd." Kratas noted curiously. "What seems odder is that they are using some form of propulsion we are unfamiliar with." He added with some concern. "Those objects are the enemy. Their intent will be very clear soon." Marek spoke as he strode into the bridge. He was wearing the same training suit he always wore. His black boots clicked softly on the metal floor. His brown hair was kept short giving accent to his eyes. The brown eyes were cold and sharp. "We will be ready for them." Daala replied. "Do you have any more information regarding your assertion that we are no longer in our galaxy?" Marek asked stepping in to face Daala. "Not my assertion, my lord. Our sensors are telling us that these stars do not appear in our charts, even the charts of neighboring galaxies." "Could they be Ssi Ruvi ships?" Kratas suggested. Marek frowned. "No. They are something else. Something cold." He answered in a quiet voice, as if his attention were drawn somewhere else. "Track all weapons on inbound trajectories." Daala ordered. She looked out the view port and seemed to be weighing something. Marek watched her closely. "Have the Adjudicator move out to greet the newcomers. I want the Executioner and the Inexorable to fall back in support positions." "The rest of the fleet?" Marek asked quietly. "We will see what unfolds. We may not need them." Daala answered. Marek nodded slowly. "Objects now within range, slowing…we are receiving communications being broadcast on all possible frequencies, trying to filter one out." 10 huge green cubes seemed to flash into existence out of nowhere. They quickly spread out, nearly encircling the Adjudicator. They glowed menacingly. "Adjudicator looks exposed out there by herself." Kratas whispered to Daala. Daala nodded sagely. "Captain Drayson is a capable man. He's survived more first contact situations than you have read about." Daala answered. "I have a transmission isolated, putting it on speakers."

"-ARE THE BORG. LOWER YOUR SHIELDS AND SURRENDER YOUR SHIPS. WE WILL ADD YOUR BIOLOGICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL DISTINCTIVENESS TO OUR OWN. YOUR CULTURE WILL ADAPT TO SERVICE US." "It seems we have our answer." Marek stated evenly. "Open a channel to Captain Drayson." "Drayson here, Admiral. I'm standing by on all weapons. We're picking up energy spikes on all these cube ships. Something happened a moment ago, seems they were trying to beam some form of energy to us, we've picked up multiple impacts along our shield grid." Drayson reported smartly. "Orders?" "RESISTANCE IS FUTILE." Daala paused at the ridiculous statement. "Captain, show these would be conquerors that the Empire always resists." Drayson smiled coldly, nodded and the holoimage disappeared.

A heartbeat later, the Adjudicator suddenly fired all her weapons at one of the cube. Half of it exploding debris and hot gasses. It then proceeded to fire on all of the cubes. The other cubes, huge gaping holes and gashes in the armored hull slowly rotated and released a hail storm of green torpedoes. They impacted against the Adjudicator. Green flashes of energy splashed along the ship's entire hull. Without having to be ordered to, the Inexorable and the Executioner opened fire on the remaining cubes. They exploded under the new onslaught. Within a few minutes, the cubes were gone and the space they occupied was littered with debris. "I want bodies brought aboard for inspection. They managed to send out a signal, Admiral. Be ready for a counterattack." Marek ordered. "Of course, Lord." Daala answered neutrally. "Ma'am, we that torpedo barrage took our shields down to 94 percent."  
aala nodded while thinking. "Hmm..." Marek turned return to his room. Daala watched him leave her bridge. Kratas felt relief after they stepped off the bridge. He is a strange case, he mused.


	2. Chapter 2

(Authors notes: Sorry about deleting the story the first time, FanFic wouldn't let me edit the first chapter. But it's good now, so enjoy!)

Galen Marek was in a meditative pose, legs crossed over each other as he sat, arms extended out along his legs, hands open with fingertips touching. His head was bowed low, eyes closed and the only movement of his body was the slow rhythmic heaving of his chest. He wore only his black tunic and pants. He was floating a meter off the ground.

She watched him with guarded interest.

"You know, I'm glad that you decided to stop brooding. It's good that the men see you in action. Your very presence inspires them and brings fear into their hearts. Fear breeds out incompetence."

"Really? It has been my experience that fear stagnates a man. Those officers will not take the initiative on anything. They will simply do their best to carry out my orders and take no risks whatsoever to accomplish any other goals."

She smirked.

"That's not the way the Emperor sees it." she paused for a moment. "Or Lord Vader."

Marek opened up one eye and stared at her. She returned the gaze without flinching.

"How well do you know Lord Vader?" he asked softly.

She shrugged.

"One does not know anyone in the Emperor's service, particularly a Lord of the Sith. I merely served with him on some assignments that required stealth and finesse. Lord Vader is more on the brute force side of the equation. If you want something done quietly with no questions asked or created, you come to me or one of the other Hands, that is what we're here for. If you want to subjugate a planet or crush the rebellion, you go to Lord Vader." She paused. "Or Lord Marek I assume at this point."

Marek nodded and remained silent. He closed his eye again and there was a stillness in the chamber for some time. She slowly stretched out on the sidelines, keeping an eye on him but working on her muscles and tendons, she needed to be ready to defend him at a moment's notice.

"I know the real reason why you are here. I am not a fool." he spoke suddenly in that soft voice of his. Quite a contrast to Lord Vader. He did not look much older than the boy that she knew he was, only some lines around the eyes and cheeks betrayed the anger that welled in him constantly. It did not look as if he had a face that suited such a lifestyle.

"I'm not sure I understand, Lord?" she replied evenly.

"Lord Vader, my master, is uncertain of his latest Sith Lord. He wants to make sure that I do not stray a whit from the Dark path. Should I falter, it will be your blade in my back, I'm sure." he answered coldly, but did not open his eyes.

"My lord, my duty is clear, to protect you, advise you and assist you in anything you need." she protested. He did not open his eyes, did not even look in her direction. She was guarding her thoughts. But he was a Sith, he was powerful and her thoughts betrayed her. He made no move or sign to betray that he had learned the truth.

Inevitability weighed on him like a cloak.

"They are coming." he said casually. She moved like a tigress across the chamber and stood by the door as it opened.

Daala strode in, followed by Kratas and chief of security Pegin. Pegin was a fat man. This was odd in Imperial ranks, as there was a strict fitness regimen among the officers but Pegin had friends. He also had a gift for interrogation and torture that made him indispensable.

Marek opened his eyes and looked down at the men, he floated slightly higher now, slowly rising as if on an invisible wind.

"What is it, Admiral?" he asked.

"Lord Marek, I have the report you requested."

"We were attacked again?" Marek asked casually.

"Yes, Lord. This time there were forty cubes. We destroyed them with no or little damage to ourselves."

"There will be more." Marek concluded.

Daala remained silent on the matter. She knew better than question Marek's intuition in these matters. He had so far proved infallible.

"Go on, Admiral."

Daala nodded to Pegin who stepped forward, eyeing Marek suspiciously as he started speaking.

"Lord Marek, my men have finished analyzing the relevant materials we recovered from the wreckage of the first battle. We have managed to ascertain the following. Pegin took out a small holoprojector from his pocket, only Marek noticed his bodyguard tense for the briefest moment, ready to kill the man.

She eased as he activated the projector. The body of one of their fallen enemy was projected for all to see. It was a human, no doubt but it was covered with cybernetic implants, grotesque implants.

"They call themselves the Borg. They are a cybertnetically enhanced species the likes of which we have never encountered before. The tech level of the enhancements is inferior to our own but serve their utilitarian purposes rather well. They have enhanced strength, endurance but due to inferior construction and neuroprocessing, they are a bit slow and cumbersome. Of particular interest to us are two things. Each of the corpses we recovered had special units that contained a transmitter of very high power that kept in constant contact with each other and a central processing core believed to be half a galaxy away."

"They have long range communication technology very similar to our own holonet." Marek added.

"Yes, Lord. They also had, implanted just under the epidermal layer a series of energy transmitters, the smallest I have seen in use for a living organism that allows them to generate a personal shield of sorts. We have been unable to activate this property and we have discovered that it is somehow linked with their vessels, with the vessel providing the power to the shields."

Marek nodded for Pegin to continue.

"We have no way of noting the power and strength of this personal shield, save that by extrapolating the power levels of their shields to date in our two encounters, it is likely that a standard Stormtrooper side arm can probably penetrate the shield."

"I sense some concern regarding that statement." Marek interjected, glancing at Daala.

"I have had my tactical crews run extensive analysis of their attacks and there is a danger." Daala stated gravely.

"Go on."

Daala took out her own holotransmitter and activated it. The first battle played back, save that this time there was a host of technical data streaming along the top and bottom of the screen as well as detailed sensor data superimposed on every object on the screen.

"Note, my lord, that when the Adjudicator opens fire for the first time in a standard ripple fire mode, the first cubes hit are instantly destroyed, the power of our turbolaser batteries proved to be too much for theirs shields and hull. Note however the time display above." The image was enhanced and the playback slowed significantly. The first two cubes hit exploded instantly. The next two exploded as well, but there was a brief time lag and the power level displayed over the cube increased slightly.

Marek's eyes narrowed on this.

The next cube also exploded but it did not do so for a fraction of a second later, and its own power level increased. The last five cubes took tertiary hits, and instead of instantly exploding as the others, great gashes were made in the hull.

"The Borg seem to posses a technology that allows them to adapt to any form of attack, particularly energy weapons. Their cubes increased in defensive capability with each strike of our weapons, so that in the end, the last cubes were struck by light turbolaser batteries and were not destroyed, only damaged. Even in this damaged state they were able to release a powerful attack, in fact we calculate that these cubes can continue to function at almost 100% combat effectiveness with 75% of their vessel damaged severely."

"They will eventually become dangerous even to this fleet." Marek concluded.

"Correct, my lord. Although they are starting from a significantly lower power and technological level than our own, they will eventually adapt to the point where they will be able to bring us down through sheer numbers."

"We can use mass drivers." Kratas noted.

"Yes, their shields cannot adapt to that type of weapon." Daala replied.

"Have we calculated their fleet strength?" Marek asked.

"We have a very rough estimate, Lord. Using calibrations made to our sensors we can now see this area that they call subspace. There must be hundreds of those cubes converging on us as we speak and we can only detect Borg signals around us for hundreds of light years."

"Is this galaxy solely composed of these beings?" Marek asked pointedly.

"No, Lord Marek. We recovered what we believe to be a computer core or information node from the wreckage of one of the cubes. It has a very detailed database that we have only begun to download, from a isolated computer work station for security purposes, and have been able to deduce that while the Borg control an expansive area of this galaxy, there are several smaller empires along the fringes of their territory. One would be of particular interest to us." Pegin answered, glancing furtively at Daala in annoyance. If anyone was going to curry favor with the new Sith Lord it would be him not the Admiral.

"How so?"

"According to the Borg data, this empire has had the most experience with spatial and temporal anomalies in this galaxy."

"How much experience do we have?"

Pegin frowned. "Quite frankly, Lord Marek, from the amount of incidents cataloged by the Borg alone I would say it is a wonder this galaxy has not fallen apart with the anomalies and wormholes that criss-cross this area."

"Then it is imperative that we immediately cease any further hostilities with the Borg and make our way to this empire to gain from them the knowledge that we need to return home." Marek concluded.

"You mean to retreat from this cybernetic scum, lord?" Pegin stammered.

"Are you questioning me, commander?" Marek asked darkly and he stopped floating, slowly settling back to his feet until he stood face to face with Pegin. Despite Pegin's greater bulk there was something about Marek that made him seem larger somehow.

"No lord, I am sure that Pegin misunderstood."

Marek glanced over at Daala, genuinely surprised that the admiral had come to Pegin's aid. He hid the surprise however and instead turned his attention back to Pegin.

"What is the name of this empire?"

"The United Federation of Planets." Pegin replied, trying not to be cowed by this young boy and failing miserably.

"Do we have any navigational information at hand?"

"We are endeavoring to download a usable coordinate system for our hyperdrive calculations. We should have some within the hour."

Marek seemed to be looking somewhere else for a moment, somewhere far away.

"They will attack us before then, be prepared for a major assault, Admiral." Marek snapped at Daala then returned his attention to Pegin.

"We are leaving this system as soon as possible. Alert all commands to be prepared to make the jump to hyperspace even if we are engaged in battle. I feel time is slipping away from us while we engage in fruitless combat."

"Of course Lord, Marek." Daala answered coolly.

Marek turned from them and began to walk away. Daala and Kratas also turned to leave, Pegin glared at Marek and also began to leave. Marek stopped.

"Your thoughts betray you, Pegin."

"Lord?" Pegin stammered. He suddenly felt his throat become too tight. He started gasping.

"You think that I am a coward at worst or I am still stained with my rebel past." Marek spoke coldly, his back still to the assembled officers. Daala held Kratas back. She had served long enough in the Imperial Navy to know when a man's career had come to an end in the service of the Emperor's agents.

"You bloated fool. Can your addled mind even remember what our original mission was?" he hissed and Pegin suddenly lurched off his feet and hung suspended in the air several feet. He clutched desperately at his throat, eyes bulging.

"Admiral Daala, what was our mission when we left orbit of Coruscant?" Marek asked casually. He remained back turned to them.

"The Emperor charged us with the utter destruction of the Ssi Ruvi. We were also ordered to field test the new weapon system installed on the Iron Fist." Daala answered without hesitation. She realized that they were all being tested at this very moment.

"A weapons system of vital importance to the Empire. A new super laser that can be mounted on a new class of Star Destroyer. We have been granted the distinct honor and privilege of using it on the Ssi Ruvi homeworld. Instead we find ourselves here, in this forsaken galaxy far from home. It is my intention to carry out the Emperor's will to the best of my ability. I am a servant and an agent of that same will and you will not question that, do I need to explain myself any further?" His voice was ice.

Pegin was black now, his gasps and struggles slowed as he slowly slumped down, still floating a meter off the ground.

Daala shook her head. "No need at all, Lord Daala. We are all servants of the New Order."

"Remember this object lesson well. I am loathe to waste any more of my time or yours with nonsense. Loyalty is expected and demanded and now you know that in this fleet, even your thoughts are under scrutiny. There can only be absolute loyalty to the Emperor."

He turned finally to face them. His face was stony and his eyes lanced into each of them with a frightful intensity.

"Absolute in thought and action." There was a loud sick wet snap and Pegin's body completely slumped, lifeless. The body hovered for a moment then landed with a thud on the metal floor.

"That is all." He started to wave them away when his eyes fell on his bodyguard.

"Admiral, unless I am mistaken, you will need a new security officer?" Marek asked.

"Yes, Lord." Daala answered slowly. Her eyes did not move an inch to see the body of his dead officer. She ignored the two stormtroopers who quickly whisked the corpse away.

"She will do quite nicely." He indicated with an inclination of his head his bodyguard. She hid her surprise well.

Daala looked uncomfortable for a moment then cleared her throat.

"If she is to be head of security, might I the know her name?" She asked and looked intently at her. She glanced to Marek who nodded.

"Mara Jade."

"Very well, we have much to do, Lord Marek."

"Yes, Admiral, do go on, and don't forget, the Borg will attack us again. Get those coordinates."

"Yes my lord." Daala bowed her head slightly and left with Kratas. Marek regarded Mara with detached interest.

"Lord Marek?" She asked, a little uncomfortable with his sudden attention.

"Don't just stand there Mara, you have a job to do. Get those coordinates, I want to be in Federation space as soon as possible."

She bowed slightly and started to walk out. She paused at the open door and looked back. He stood stock still, back to her.

"What if this Federation doesn't want to share their knowledge?"

"Share, Mara? No, that would require too much time. Talking and debating, no. We will take what we wish." She smiled in agreement and walked out.


	3. Chapter 3

(*Authors note* I really only made this to blow off steam, though it does tie-in later in the book.)

Tim Snuffle was accustomed to mysteries and even a surprise or two, but when circumstances put both his ship and his crew at risk, he was never amused. Just a moment ago, they were orbiting the planet Antara IV, on a routine survey when everyone felt a sudden sense of nausea or vertigo and the planet had disappeared and now they seemed to be floating in deep space. A quick check of the charts indicated that they were only a few light years away from the neutral zone and that could never be a good thing. He leaned forward slightly in his command seat.

"Mr. Chi, any indication of what happened?"

"There's just nothing showing up on the helm displays, sir. The warp drive definitely did not engage and the impulse engines are on standby. Whatever happened, we didn't move." Chi answered.

"Tyson?"

"Captain, readings from the navigational systems indicate a definite change in position relative to where we were just a minute ago. This corresponds with a change in star position."

"Considering we were orbiting a planet only a second ago, I would say that we have indeed moved, Ensign." Snuffle's replied wanly. Tyson blushed in spite of himself. Chi smiled to himself.

"Captain, the highly volatile state of quantum particles in the immediate vicinity as well as a cascade of theta radiation would seem to indicate some sort of wormhole or spatial anomaly." Spook reported as he looked up form his sensor hood.

"How did it happen and we didn't have any warning at all?" Snuffle's asked curiously.

"Unknown. Most phenomena of this nature don't have such a short duration and usually announce themselves in some way that our sensors can detect."

"Do you think it was somehow artificially created?" Snuffle's pressed.

Spook shrugged.

"If this were possible the power and technological requirements are beyond our science."

"Wouldn't be the first time we've run across something beyond our science." Snuffle's replied with a smile.

Spook merely nodded.

"Indeed Captain."

Snuffle's shook his head and was about to say something else when the turbo lift doors snapped open and Dr. DeDum stepped out, face twisted with worry.

"Tim, I've got a sickbay full of disoriented crewmen." He griped and stepped down to stand by Snuffle's chair.

"Doctor, I have a ship that has jumped several hundred light years in less than a second. In case you were wondering, we're hovering within spitting distance of the neutral zone and we have no idea what happened to us." Tim replied dryly.

"You mean to tell me that our science officer over there hasn't conjured up the reason yet. Why Spook, I'm disappointed in you." DeDum said with a grin.

Spook raised an eyebrow.

"Captain." Tim and DeDum faced Sarah. She was holding one hand to her ear and with the other she was expertly working her console. "I am picking numerous Starfleet transmissions. But they are encrypted in a manner I've never encountered."

Snuffle's bow furrowed.

"I've tried making contact with the local relay station but it won't allow me access. It keeps telling me that our codes are out of date."

"Good heavens, Tim, were we kicked out – again?!" DeDum exclaimed.

Snuffle's exchanged a questioning glance with Spook.

"Fascinating." Spook replied.

"Is that all you have to say?!" DeDum grimaced.

An alarm beeped on Spook's board and he quickly activated his scanning hood. Tim turned and waited impatiently.

"Captain, I am picking up an incoming starship. Odd. It's design materials and warp signature are inconsistent with Starfleet design, and the power consumption curves are several times greater than any starship we have on record."

Tim rubbed his chin for a moment, staring out at the view screen.

"Let's play along. Sarah, send the ship a hail. Mr. Chi, keep the phasers on standby." He flicked a combutton on his chair's armrest. "Heri, I may need emergency warp power at a second's notice."

There was a brief sigh on the other end.

"Aye, sir. You will have it."

Snuffle's smiled softly and turned his attention back to the screen.

"Mr. Chi, give me maximum mag on viewer. Show me our mystery ship." "Aye, sir." Chi replied and adjusted the main viewer. It shimmered for a second and suddenly the ship sprang up to fill a quarter of the screen. Tim stared dumbfounded.

There was no resemblance to any Starfleet ship that he had ever seen, this seemed so much…sleeker…elegant than the utilitarian designs he was accustomed to. The entire ship was like a giant skyscraper, and far larger then any ship he had seen before. The secondary and primary hulls were blended together. He also did not miss the armament.

He whirled around to Spook.

"Spook, are those all guns on that ship?"

"It would seem so, Captain. I am reading a power level unlike any other ship we have seen before."

"Spook, as far as I know, the only ship that is near that magnitude would be a Borg cube, and even that pales in comparison to this." Tim noted.

"Is it a new species?" DeDum mused.

"I think we're going to have to be careful."

"Captain, I am receiving a hail from that ship." Sarah felt strange about saying that.

"On screen."

A man in a black jump suit glared at Tim.

"Those uniforms look like glorified workout suits." DeDum whispered to Snuffle's. Tim flashed him an annoyed glance then spoke.

"This is Captain Tim Snuffle of the starship Irish, please state your intentions." Tim said.

"I am Captain Chewa of the ZC Corrupter. Power down your weapons and engines and prepare to be boarded."

"Captain, you must be mad."

Chewa glared at him. "You WILL stand down or be destroyed."

Tim glanced back at his crew. They stood there and returned his gaze. He then turned back to the viewscreen.

"I only have one word to say to you. Nuts."

Chewa stared into Tim's eyes. "So be it then."

Tim quickly cut the transmission. "Chi, open fire on that vessel, Heri, prepare to warp out of here!"

Sarah gave a scream as the entire ship shook from the impact of the Corrupter's heavy turbolasers.

"Heri, get us out of here!" Tim shouted.

"Shields have failed sir!" Chi informed Tim.

Just as Tim turned to look at the enemy ship, the entire bridge disintegrated around him as the escape pod closed around him then there was only blackness...


	4. Chapter 4

The explosions activated the automatic shading on the view ports as another cube evaporated under a direct volley of the Iron Fist. Four cubes skimmed by, firing a wall of green plasma torpedoes that erupted against the massive ship's shields. A storm of green turbolaser fire filled the top portion of the view port, as three Star Destroyers formed a wedge against the new wave of cubes that arrived firing straight from transwarp space.

"This would be much easier if we had fighter and bomber support." Kratas muttered to himself. He watched four more cubes explode as they dared cross the main forward guns of the flagship.

"I will not order pilots of the Empire to expose themselves to being left behind at the mercy of these soulless things. Don't forget once we have the coordinates we have been ordered to make the jump to light speed, whether we are in the middle of combat or not." Daala reminded the captain. She watched with a growing sense of unease as another wave of cubes arrived. Despite the valiant effort of the Adjudicator, Executor and Inexorable which formed the forward wedge of her fleet formation, too many cubes were squeezing past their veritable wall of turbolaser fire.

"How many cubes is that now?" Kratas asked his tactical officer.

"That last wave makes 600, we've managed to destroy 3/4 of their fleet so far, with most of the others badly damaged, but they're starting to strain us. The Adjudicator reports forward screens are buckling, we also have reports from the lighter ships that the Borg weapons have had an increasing damage to them. One Carrack, the Izman, that her shields are failing and engines are damaged. She does not know if she'll be able to make the jump." The tactical officer stated the last part with some concern.

"Inform the commander of the Izman, that if they are unable to use their hyperdrive he is to scuttle his ship immediately and get his men to escape pods. Have the Relentless drop back from picket duty to stand overwatch and recover survivors. Tell them they have little to no time. My orders are clear on the matter of jumping."

"Yes sir."

"Do you think they'll make it?" Kratas asked.

Daala remained quiet and instead watched as the Borg sent in yet another wave. They were coming on without fear of losses or death. They knew that they were outclassed in weapons and defenses but still they came. The sad part was that despite all their advantages and her tactical skills, the weight of numbers may still carry the day. She was slowly beginning to understand Lord Marek's insistence. He had a way of seeing danger before it happened and he obviously saw grave danger to them if they remained here. Unfortunately jumping blind was not a good idea at the moment. They could lose everything if they ran into anything. Even the great Iron Fist could be crippled if it bounced too close to a sun or other stellar object.

Mara Jade suddenly appeared. She stalked up to Daala and handed her a data pad.

"We extrapolated a hyperspace route into Federation space. It is in an area near one of their militarized borders. Lord Marek expressed an interest in capturing one of their warships for interrogation and inspection. There must be a reason why the Borg have not assimilated them. I figured we would find plenty of warships there." Mara explained, completely ignoring the thermonuclear storm just outside the main view screen.

"Excellent, have navigation enter these into the nav computer and alert all commands, we are jumping as soon as we give the signal." She handed the data pad to Kratas. He nodded, paused for a moment and asked in a low voice.

"The Izman?"

"What is the status of her evacuation?" Daala asked stoically.

"The Relentless reports that they have only recovered the first wave of escape pods, over 60% of the Izman's crew is still onboard."

"How long will it take them?" Kratas pressed.

"Admiral." Mara warned. "Our orders were clear, we are to jump. Now."

Daala stared at her for a long moment. There was silence on the command deck for a few seconds, despite the raging battle.

"Give me the commander of the Izman, set coordinates and transmit to the rest of the fleet." She ordered stonily.

The image of the commander of the Izman appeared before Kittaine. He looked haggard and behind him they could see men rushing about.

"Admiral."

"Captain, I have orders to jump now. We cannot wait for you."

"Admiral, we have a large warp signature approaching, mass and density suggests 1,000 cubes inbound." the tactical officer reported loudly. The worry in his voice was clear.

There was only a heartbeat's hesitation. "Understood." The captain of the Izman replied. He looked about his bridge for a second and then reached beyond the transmitter's view and touched a few controls. He looked back up into Daala's eyes.

"I have set the reactors to overload in 30 seconds. It was an honor and a pleasure serving with you Admiral." He said and switched off the transmission. Daala nodded to herself.

"Hyperdrive standing by."

Suddenly the stars ahead of them were blotted out by a sea of green cubes.

"Jump to hyperspace now!"

The cubes positioned themselves to fire but then they vanished into the familiar blue tunnel of cascading light that was hyperspace. Kratas noticed several bridge crewmen give audible sighs of relief. He could not agree more.

"Excellent, Admiral. I will inform Lord Marek that we are enroute to Federation space." Mara said and began to leave.

"A good man gave his life for the Empire today." Daala said. She paused. "If Lord Marek had given us a few more minutes we would have rescued the crew of the Izman."

"Ask yourself something, Admiral. If we had remained behind for even one second longer, how many more ships would we have lost? Remember, all officers and men are expected to die for the greater glory of the empire. In the end, we destroyed over 800 enemy ships in the engagement while only losing 1 light cruiser. I would make that exchange any day." Mara answered icily and left the bridge.

Daala remained silent, despite Kratas's obvious fuming. She knew that in the end, Mara Jade was correct. In the cold language of numbers she was absolutely correct, and in fleet engagements numbers were the overwhelming most important factor. That did not mean that she had to like it. The captain of the Izman had died far from home and that hurt her. She loved her men, she had served with them for years and they had never failed her. She never wanted to fail them.

"Have tactical commands immediately begin sending us status reports on all ships. I want detailed reports before we emerge form hyperspace on our own damage and the Borg's weapons and defenses. Begin emergency repairs, focusing on our defensive systems first. If these empires have held off the Borg then they may be even more dangerous than those cybernetic monstrosities"

"Yes, admiral." Kratas nodded and went about doing his duty. Daala hoped the work would keep his mind off his rage and bitterness. Kratas was a competent officer, she would hate to lose him because he thought the wrong thing in Marek's presence.


	5. Chapter 5

All he could hear was the wind. It was always the wind, and the long gaping abyss below. He fell. He always fell, tumbling through the darkness.

Why did he always fall?

YOU HAVE TAKEN EVERYTHING FROM ME!

The voice was his. He fell further, accelerating to some unseen bottom. He usually saw nothing save the darkness, but sometimes, when he least expected it, he saw his face, his teacher, his mentor.

"Lord Marek?"

He stopped falling and found himself kneeling, low and there were a pale of sickly yellow eyes looking on him like a predator.

"Lord Marek?"

He looked up. The yellow eyes flashed and a smile appeared beneath them under the dark hood.

"Rise then, my young apprentice, rise Lord Darth Marek and bask in the shadow of the Dark Side." The Emperor spoke in that soft whisper of his.

"Lord Marek, are you alright?"

There was something else. A sound, the deep bass rumble of a respirator. He wanted to turn around, to look and see. Always the breathing, always the cold monotone. He wanted to look upon him with his Sith eyes and see the truth.

Lord Marek awoke.

Mara Jade was leaning in close, her face wrinkled in worry. His hand flashed to her throat and held it. Mara's eyes widened but she did nothing else. She instinctively knew that if she said a word, struggled in anyway he would snap her neck with ease. Instead she controlled her breathing and her fear as she was taught and stared into his eyes, silent.

Marek stared at her, fighting the panic in his heart, the fear was quickly replaced with anger. He squeezed and she gasped but remained still.

"Have you come to kill me?" He asked softly.

Mara shook her head very slowly, fighting against the unyielding hand at her throat.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

She tried to speak but only strangled gasps came out. Marek slowly eased his grip on her throat and the rage within him slowly subsided. He held on to part of it, fanning it and feeling the cold grip at his heart. He would need the rage. It made him powerful.

"I've come to tell you that we are only an hour from Federation space. Our long range sensors have detected three ships close to our hyperspace emergence point. They match the Borg description of Federation vessels." She reported evenly, not betraying a whit of her anger and fear.

"What is the Admiral's threat assessment of these ships? Are they superior to the Borg vessels we've encountered?" he asked and completely released her from his grip. He slowly rose from his meditation chamber and wrapped his cape around his shoulder as he walked away from it.

Mara followed, watching him closely. He had been sleeping, not meditating and unless she was completely mistaken it looked like he was having a nightmare.

"Actually, they are far inferior. Their power generation seems to be less than 10% of a Borg cube, and that is combined. Weapons are hard to tell at this range."

"We should not assume too much. Arrogance is a flaw, one that endemic of our Empire."

"There's every reason to be arrogant when you are the premier power in the galaxy." Mara replied.

Marek smiled softly.

"Indeed. Well, tell the Admiral that I want one of those ships captured, their crew brought on board and interrogated. I want to know all that there is to know about this United Federation of Planets. I want any information on wormholes and these so called spatial anomalies."

"Understood, my Lord." She replied.

He his tunic, taking his lightsabers and walking towards the back of his quarters. She knew that his workout room was built in behind the meditation chamber. He did not say another word as the doors hissed open and he entered. She followed.

She watched as he stood in a calm pose for a moment.

"If you are going to watch, you can at least make yourself useful." He stated and indicated the table on the far side of the room. She nodded and moved over to it.

She stopped at the table and saw four remotes sitting on the table top.

"How many do you want to train with today?" she asked, turning her head to face him.

"All of them."

She smirked.

"Showing off?"

"Just turn them on." He replied.

She shrugged and activated the remotes. The cold black orbs leaped away and buzzed towards Marek like a pack of wolves. Both of Marek's lightsabers activated with a snap hiss and the two ruby red blades went up in the high guard position between the blinks of an eye. The orbs paused just out of his reach and they slowly fanned out around him, encircling him.

She watched his foot play, as he expertly positioned himself with the blade at chest level, his eyes weren't really watching the remotes.

They fired. Four needle like beams flashed at him and he whirled round, flashing his blades across and deflecting each bolt with ease. He flipped over one of the remotes and as he passed overhead he slapped it with one of his lightsabers, the crimson blade neatly bisecting it.

He landed and turned at his waist, bringing his other saber around and blocked the next three bolts. The saber made a quick vroom sound as he back flipped gracefully, the green needle bolts chopping up on the floor one second behind him. She watched him in motion and was awed by his pure speed and agility. She had seen Vader in action a few times and he was powerful and unstoppable. This was different. There was a grace and speed that she had never seen before.

He stopped, flicking his wrist out, the other blade hummed loudly as it flashed out of his grip and took out one of the remotes in mid-flight. The blade swung back towards him but he was already in motion again, racing beneath the two remotes which stopped and spun on their axis as they tracked him, their green bolts missing him by a hairsbreadth. One suddenly zoomed out ahead of him in an effort to cut him off.

It had forgotten about the other lightsaber. It sliced right through the remote and Marek leaped up into the air, catching his lightsaber and as he flipped in a tight ball his second lightsaber blade out at an angle caught another volley of shots.

He landed and stood in the classic guard position.

He was not breathing hard. Her eyes narrowed on him. There was something on his face she had not seen before. Joy.

The last remote ducked in fast, almost a blur of motion and fired off a series of shots low then high in quick succession so it looked like a wall of laser shots. Marek's smile broadened and his crimson blades flashed into a wall of light, the bolts all bounced away save one. The last one he casually flicked away from him and it struck the remote, bringing it down at his feet with a crash.

She clapped.

He seemed to notice her again at the sound. He smiled, some sweat beading on his forehead but no other sign of exertion.

"That is what we Sith call a warm up." He said and there was a hint of the boy that he most obviously still was in his voice. Mara cocked up an eyebrow at the remark.

"Oh?"

Marek touched a control at his wrist and twelve remotes hissed out from behind Mara. They floated hungrily around him.

"You have got to be kidding."

"I recommend you leave, and see to the capture of the Federation ships. I want you to bring me the passengers and I want them alive."

"Of course." She replied and started to walk out, paused by his side and eyed one of his sabers. She ignored the heat coming off of him.

"Your other saber, that's an odd design, it doesn't look like your old saber, or Lord Vader's." she commented and looked up into his eyes. He returned the gaze steadily for a moment.

"It is my own design."

"Oh?" she replied curiously. His face softened for a moment as his memories crept into his mind like timid children. He almost smiled. But then there was the betrayal and his smile turned into a sneer.

"Call it a reminder of how the light side is pitiful, weak and lies." He added darkly. He brought both sabers up to his face at a classic en garde position and Mara felt the chill settle over her as he closed up.

"See to the capture personally Mara. Consider it your first test." He ordered.

"Of course, my lord." She bowed slightly and left the room, wondering what memories she had dredged up.


	6. Chapter 6

Jim and Wefud sat around the conference room table. Each one seemed relaxed as they spoke, a bottle of Saurian brandy sitting on the table, obviously enjoying a small drink at the end of their shifts.

"So let me get this straight. This ship is going to find the anomaly and then we go through it and return to work?" Jim asked incredulously.

"That is the offer from the Captain of the Sagan. He states that this can be accomplished easily, the Sagan has the most experience with temporal and spatial anomalies out of any science vessel in the Federation, although he did note that we were a special exception." Wefud replied.

"Oh?" Jim pressed.

"It seems, that we are something of a legend in the time travel department. In fact he confided in me that there is a special division and file regarding the Enterprise." Wefud added with a mischievous grin.

"You have got to be kidding. By the way," he dropped his voice to a secretive whisper. "Did you get any tips about the future, maybe some stock options, hmm?"

"Odd that. The captain of the Sagan was very clear that money was no longer in use. Seems that the Federation credit is the only thing out there and the market's just gone."

"Now THAT is an odd step. All I know is, Starfleet better honor our pensions." Jim griped.

"Well, we do the one thing I don't like to do." Wefud frowned. "Sit and wait."

"I for one, PREFER the sitting and waiting." Jim interjected. "Less of a mess and maybe, just once, we can have a normal mission. I mean honestly, what could possibly happen waiting around?" Jim replied with a satisfied grin and poured himself another glass of Saurian brandy. Wefud held the glass out to Jim for a moment.

The communicator beeped.

Jim flipped it on.

"Jim here."

"Captain, we have a strange reading on our sensors, it looks like some odd spatial distortion relatively close by – " there was a pause. "Sir, the Thunderchild just went to battle stations and they want us to follow suit."

"Go to Battle stations! We're right on our way up." Jim snapped and slapped off the communicator. He got up quickly nodding to Wefud. Wefud shook his head sadly.

"Can we have just one damned mission without-" The red alert klaxons went off and the small red panels flashed above the doors to the conference room as he and Jim raced out. "That awful racket!" he shouted to no one in particular. He slapped the communicator on.

"Nurse Chapel, have sickbay prepped for possible casualties." Wefud ordered.

On the bridge, Jim walked in followed by Wefud who took his post as Jim slipped into his command chair.

"Status?"

"Thunderchild has just accelerated to full impulse. The Sagan is hanging back, their using their sensors to find what triggered their defenses." Pasto replied.

"Captain, I'm receiving a hail from the Thunderchild."

"Put it through Lieutenant."

Wefud was busy adjusting his sensor hood, searching for the unknown danger.

Captain Saben Trax appeared on the screen.

"Jim, we have one contact inbound on an intercept course, they look big and well armed. We're going to try and verify their intentions. Hang back and protect the Sagan. We may need to run."

"Captain, if the ship is approaching on an intercept course under strict sensor and radio silence I think that their intentions are fairly clear." Jim replied and kicked himself. He did not want to question a fellow officer, especially one he did not know.

Trax hesitated for a moment. His boyhood idol had just told him something he had not considered. But pride pricked him and he smiled casually.

"Don't worry captain, the Thunderchild saw plenty of action recently, we're up to it." He replied. "Saben out."

Jim frowned. He had seen that look before, the right mix of smugness and recklessness. He had been accused of that before himself.

"Pasto, keep us within 5,000 kilometers of the Sagan, arm the torpedoes and charge the phasers."

"Aye sir."

Jim hoped that Trax knew what he was doing.

"Captain, I'm getting another distortion in space. Opening up right between us and the Thunderchild." Wefud warned.

"Evasive, Mr. Pasto!"

The screen flashed for a moment and a ship seemed to explode into view. Jim froze for a moment as he saw the kilometer long vessel. The design was completely unfamiliar. Its arrow shape and obviously armored hull made her look dangerous and predatory.

"Sir, I'm picking up a transmission on a frequency we've never used before."

"On speakers."

"In the Name of the Emperor, cut your engines and prepare to be boarded."

Jim slowly turned to Wefud.

"Captain, the vessel is sporting armament the like of which we have never encountered before." Wefud looked up at Jim. "We are no match for this vessel."

"That makes up my mind, inform the Sagan to follow our lead." Jim replied and turned to Pasto.

"Pasto, we run."

"Aye sir."

"Captain, the Thunderchild is attacking."

"Oh no! What is he doing?" Jim exclaimed.


	7. Chapter 7

"Standby on all weapons, track them!" Captain Drayson snapped. Mara Jade stood behind him, watching the tactical displays and glancing out of the view ports. One of the Federation ships was flashing underneath their bow, angry red beams slashed out at their shields, followed by a series of small missile weapons that exploded against the prow of the Adjudicator in an impressive light show.

"Their torpedoes are inferior to the Borg weapons we encountered, sir." Drayson's tactical officer reported.

"Keep them in range, set the heavy turbolasers to flak mode, and don't give them time to use this warp drive of theirs." Drayson glanced back at Mara. "My troops are assembling in the hangar bay, will you want to join them?"

"Of course, Captain, but I want to see this Federation in action. So far I am not impressed." Mara replied coolly.

"Sir, the other two Federation ships are moving away from us at high sublight speed. Should we destroy them?"

"Focus on this foolhardy soul. Prepare a barrage from our ion cannons, I want him disabled as soon as possible before he realizes that he is outclassed and outmatched."

"I believe he is covering for the other two ships to escape." Mara commented.

"They will not escape us for long. The flak is pretty thick out there, it should provide enough of a disturbance to keep them from initiating their super light engines. Besides, I have a surprise for those two." Drayson replied. She watched him, he was like a sentry dog let loose, and he roamed his bridge like some predator, overjoyed at the prospect of combat. Lord Marek and Admiral Daala had chosen the right man for this mission. Captain Drayson and the Adjudicator had the most kills of Borg cubes since they arrived in this place, and back home he had made a name for himself on the rim, hunting Rebel ships, single handedly destroying a Mon Cal cruiser that had tried to ambush them. He was vicious and single minded, with a penchant for flashy strategies that more often than not worked spectacularly.

"We have the Federation ship bracketed."

"Bring down his shields and hit him with the ion cannons."

"Aye sir."

The Federation ship pirouetted gracefully over the Adjudicator, firing her weapons in a continuous mode and doing almost nothing against the Adjudicator's shields. The impotent display would have taken the heart out of any Imperial crew, yet these Federation ships did not seem to falter in the face of defeat.

"They are impressive in their courage and grace." Mara said quietly.

Drayson sneered.

"Courage and grace do not win victories, Ms. Jade. Power does."

With those words a volley of turbolasers struck the Federation ship. The shield bubble flashed an angry red for a brief moment then failed. A stream of white ion blasts cascaded over the ship, tendrils of electricity jumped around from nacelle to hull and the Federation ship seemed to darken, its movement slowed.

"The ship has been disabled sir."

"Bring her in close with the tractors, get the assault ship ready, and inform the troopers that I want that ship intact."

"Yes, Captain."

"The other two ships?"

"Relay their positions to the Executioner, bring her into this fight."

"Aye captain."

"Ms. Jade, the assault ship leaves momentarily." He reminded her. Mara nodded and stalked off the bridge.


	8. Chapter 8

"What happened?" Captain Saben demanded as he waved some of the smoke that choked his bridge out of his face. His helmsman was futilely working his controls and he slapped them in frustration.

"I have negative helm control, even the manual systems are out."  
"Science?" Saben barked, afraid that one more volley would destroy his ship any second. "It appears we have been struck by some form of pulsed ionized energy sir. I think it's specifically designed to damage or disable control systems by overloading them. It's going to take a few minutes to flush the systems and reboot the core." "Why would they disable us…" his question drifted off and he slapped his communicator on his chest. "Security, I want cordons around vital areas of the ship, prepare to repel boarders!" He ordered sternly, never thinking that he would ever have to issue that order.

"Captain, engineering here, we have some serious problems with the warp core, with our safety systems fried by this ion charge, the core is running very hot, unless we can institute a shutdown in ten minutes we may have a breach." "Engineering, I may want that breach." Saben replied darkly. "Sir?" "We have hostile boarders on the way, we may not be able to repel them. We cannot allow a Federation starship to fall into the hands of an enemy."  
"Understood sir." The reply was stern but quiet. Saben got out of his command chair and walked over to the science station. "I'm going to want to initiate a self destruct." His science officer frowned as he tried something on his console. "It's doubtful we can initiate one right now sir, the main computer core is down, it cannot be accessed let alone do any recognition's. We are completely dead in the water." "How long for a hard reboot?" "At least five minutes." "Do it!"

"Sir, security reports sighting a transport inbound, they're heading for the shuttle bays!" His communications officer reported. "Depressurize the shuttle bay and vent all oxygen into space, let's not make things easy for them." He replied and turned back to his science officer. "Do whatever it takes, but I want a self destruct running as soon as possible." 'Aye sir."  
"Weapons?" he turned to his tactical officer. "Sir, there's nothing." He pressed several buttons on his touch pad with no effect. "Besides, we didn't even put a dent in their shields. According to my last reading on their shields, they were operating several orders of magnitude higher than our own shield ratings. These guys put Borg shields to shame sir." "Who in the galaxy are they?" The ship rocked for a moment. "Security reporting, we have boarders."


	9. Chapter 9

Security personnel raced for the shuttle bay access doors and positioned themselves along the corridor, some hanging in open doorways for cover others kneeling or crouching at the end of the corridor, aiming their phaser rifles with grim purpose at the doorway.

Security chief Lehman frowned. This was not a good fighting position, but there was nothing else to do. Starships weren't meant to be fought in and they relied on intruder control systems like containment fields and paralyzing gas. Unfortunately these systems were now out because of the enemy ion charge attack. He only hoped that their troopers weren't as obviously advanced as their ships.

He shook his head as he felt the impact of the enemy troop transport against the outer door of the shuttle bay. Of course, that was all wishful thinking.

"Ok, boys, stay cool. Remember shoot what you can see and make sure your enemy is down before moving on." He called out to his men. Many shifted nervously as they heard the shuttle bay doors blasted open and the sound of heavy machines moving beyond.

Lehman looked up at the sounds, trying to decipher what they meant, what were they doing on the other side of the door. Unfortunately they were as blind as a bat and crippled.

Then he heard something against the door. His face hardened as he knew what was coming next.

"Here they come." Someone muttered behind him.

The shuttlebay doors suddenly flared up as a storm of sparks raced along the outer edges of the door then they exploded outward. The security troops closest to the door were downed by flying shrapnel. Angry crimson bolts exploded out as several white shapes burst through, heedless of security's return fire. Lehman took aim and fired, his phaser bolt caught one of the white armored shaped right in the chest, lifting it off his feet and it flying backwards. He heard the screams of his men, as they were cut down by the enemy's guns.

As the smoke cleared, he could clearly see that they were white armored humanoids, several of them were lying strewn across the floor at the shuttle bay doors but there were more coming, storming into the corridor, heedless of losses or enemy fire. They were like the Borg that way and Lehman hated the Borg.

Even the shots that missed, struck walls or ceiling and the resulting shrapnel from the blasts were slicing through his men like flechette rounds.

"Fall back to secondary defense point, Sona, Smith, lay down some suppressing fire!" He shouted.

Sona nodded and began firing in a spread across the corridor, Smith took a bolt to the face and his head disappeared in a cloud of blood and bone. Lehman watched some of his men begin to break and panic, the enemy troopers did not hesitate to surge forward and continued firing, some into the backs of his fleeing men. Lehman took several more carefully aimed shots and fell back.

The troopers followed like hungry wolves, always keeping the Starfleet security personnel in sight, always firing, once again, even missed shots proved deadly for his men as hot shrapnel cut through flesh and bone.

The security troops were starting to panic and Lehman was afraid that by the time they reached the second defense point they would not be in any condition to fight. Fortunately they made the sharp turn and most of the men stopped at their next position, many turning and firing a steady stream of phaser fire back at the corner. The first few white armored troops turned the corner and were felled by a hail of phaser fire, several got snap shots off, downing more of his men.

He noted grimly that more than half of his defensive force was down or dead. The enemy troopers stopped coming, and he heard their running steps halt, his grip on his phaser tightened. The sharp turn at this junction gave them a slight advantage in that the enemy had to make the turn blind, essentially giving his men a free shot at their attackers.

A small silver globe suddenly bounced down the corridor towards them. Lehman's eyes widened and he started to shout a warning when the thermal detonator exploded. The concussion knocked the tightly wedged security troops down and the blast was immediately followed by enemy fire as the troopers raced around the corner. One in particular was fast and deadly, his fire was deadly accurate and three more of his men struggling to rise were cut down.

"This position is untenable, fall back to defense position three." He shouted, trying to get a bead on the lead trooper that was causing so much carnage, moving among the other troopers like a pack leader. Position three was their last position before the boarders would gain access to the main turbolifts and the rest of the ship. Position three was known as Alamo position and he did not expect to be heading there within minutes of the boarding action. He cursed the lack of containment fields as he hauled one of his men up by his arm and shoved him down the corridor, firing blindly over his left shoulder as his men scrambled to get out of the corridor, and hopefully out of sight of the enemy fire.

Lehman knew as they rounded the next corner that this battle was lost, less than 15 men followed him out where he had led 40 to the shuttle bay. As they ran Lehman slapped his combadge as a blaster bolt missed his head by inches, exploding further down the corridor.

"Security to Bridge, we are being overwhelmed by boarders, some kind of troopers breaking through lines, advise engineering that they'll have company very soon. Lehman out."

The leading element of Stormtroopers eagerly followed the fleeing Starfleet security personnel, but the lead trooper held up a closed fist and the main body of troops halted obediently, many dancing on the balls of their feet like dogs ready to be let loose.

The lead stormtrooper removed her helmet. Mara Jade's hair was plastered to her head with sweat and she was breathing heavily. She hated stormtrooper armor, particularly the helmet. Despite all the wonderful features, she felt like she was buried alive, and blind. Peripheral vision was shot to hell in this thing. Of course, in boarding actions, there was nothing like the protection the armor afforded so she suffered the discomfort because at least she wouldn't suffer the fate that some of these Federation troops experienced. She noted with a detached interest the numerous shrapnel wounds inflicted on the bodies of the dead enemy security personnel. She dropped the helmet to the ground.

"The lead element will continue to hunt down the rest of the defenders. You all will follow me to the nerve centers of this vessel. Lord Marek wants prisoners so from here on set your weapons to stun. Lord Marek assures me any bridge officer killed in the boarding action will result in the offending trooper's death as well as his squad mates. Are we clear?"

"Yes ma'am." The troopers responded in unison, diligently switching over to stun mode on their weapons.

"Squad Gamma, you go down and take Engineering, make sure that we stop any act of sabotage or self destruction. The rest of you follow me to the bridge."

The troopers quickly split up and raced through the winding corridors, crewmen huddled in their quarters or stations, hearing a sound that they did not think they would ever hear, the march of invading troops in their corridors.


	10. Chapter 10

"Raise security, I want to know what's going on." Saben ordered over his shoulder then returned his attention back to the computer console where he was working with his science officer.

"How about a self destruct using this access way?" He asked.

"That isolinear system looks fried sir, we would have to actually get into the Jeffries tube here." He pointed to a Jeffries tube several decks down. "And directly access the explosive controls from there."

"Doors sealed sir." One of his men reported as he finished fusing the turbolift doors together with his phaser.

"How long until the hard reboot is done?"

"Still need three more minutes. The ion charge was more powerful than anything we have encountered, even our hardened systems were overwhelmed. We're lucky the core wasn't completely fried.

"Sir, we have unauthorized access in the turbolift." His tactical officer reported.

"Everyone, check your weapons." Saben ordered. He stood away, knowing that trying to get to the Jeffries tube was near impossible at this point. The internal sensors were out but judging by reports trickling in, the enemy was everywhere.

"Engineering, Can you force a warp core breach? We need to destroy the ship ASAP." He asked.

The sounds that came in on the communicator were a chaos of explosions and shouts of surprise and anger. The line went dead. Saben stood silent for a moment. Then he heard the sound of heavy equipment moving in the turbolift.

"Initiate a complete core dump. I want every scrap of data gone."

His science officer frowned.

"Sir, with the core in hard reboot, we can't do anything."

Saben shook his head, biting back a curse. Suddenly the turbolift doors exploded outward knocking him over the railing of his bridge. Several of the bridge officers fired into the gaping hole that remained of the turbolift. Three troopers ran in and fired. White rings flashed by, whenever they struck a person, the target crumpled to the floor unconscious.

One of the troopers was struck by a phaser, knocking him back into the turbolift but more flooded in simply firing continuously, the stun bolts taking down the rest of his men. Saben stood up and stared at the enemy troops. They swiveled their blasters in his direction but he did not raise his weapon.

A woman leaped in followed by another phalanx of troops. She looked around the bridge and nodded to one of the lead troopers.

"Good work, commander. Secure this bridge and coordinate with hangar control to get technicians onboard as soon as possible. My men are telling me that their reactor core seems to be in some form of meltdown."

"Yes ma'am."

"This is an act of aggression against the United Federation of Planets. What is the meaning of this attack?!" Saben protested.

Mara slowly walked down into the lower level of the bridge. She examined the young captain with a critical eye. Saben returned the gaze steadily. He ignored the moans of some of his wounded men as the troopers roughly pulled them up and started to line them up along the far side of the bridge under the main viewer.

"Captain, you and your starship are now under the custody of the Empire. We do not explain ourselves, we do not answer the questions of prisoners of the Empire. We simply take what we wish. You will be a guest of Darth Marek. He is most eager to meet you." She smiled coldly.

Saben felt a cold grip around his heart. He found himself wondering if at least Jim got away.


	11. Chapter 11

The Enterprise lurched to the starboard as the heavy flak increased.

"Wefud, can we initiate warp?"

"The energy cascades caused by these explosions are not allowing us to form a stable subspace warp shell. We need to get more distance." Wefud answered, grimly evading another ripple of explosions. "The Sagan is right behind us sir. Their scanners indicate that while these flak bursts can destroy us both, the enemy is obviously trying to take us alive." Benera reported.

"The Thunderchild has been disabled sir. I'm picking up activity in the enemy warship, it looks like an assault transport is on the way to the Thunderchild." Tock reported.

Jim rubbed his chin.

"Tock, what is the status of the other warship?"

"They are still closing fast."

"They're going to squeeze us between them. We need a diversion to get us out of here."

"It seems that they are inexperienced with subspace. Their mode of super light travel is very different from our own. My analysis of their combat scanning proves that we may be able to use that to our advantage."

Jim nodded.

"What are the chances that we can generate a subspace fold around the ship, making us disappear to normal scanning."

"The effect will only last for a moment." Tock cautioned.

Jim smiled.

"I just need a second." He activated his comboard. "Dood, I'm going to need a quick subspace burst through the main deflector dish."

"Captain, it may burn out the deflector, there won't be time to properly calibrate." Dood replied.

"It's either a blown out dish or a captured ship."

"Aye sir." Dood replied.

"Benera, send a tight beam transmission to the Sagan, tell them what we're planning."

"Aye sir."

The Enterprise shook violently. Some lights around the bridge dimmed.

"Mr. Wefud, those last few bursts were awfully close." Jim commented dryly. Wefud turned a weak smile on his face.

"Sorry sir, but that ship out there seems to be covered in guns."

"Captain, the Sagan respectfully suggests that they have a more powerful emitter and they should fire off the burst." Benera reported.

"Tell them we need one now."

"Aye sir."

"Space distortion ahead. Possible enemy emerging from unknown dimensional interface." Tock warned.

"Wefud, full evasive, standby emergency warp."

"Aye sir!" Wefud barely replied as he sent the Enterprise diving away from the Executioner which jumped out of hyperspace almost on top of them. It fired a series of heavy flak bursts, white ion blasts hungrily hunting for the Enterprise and the Sagan.

"Sagan firing the burst in three..two..one!" Tock reported.

"Wefud, emergency warp, opposite direction from current trajectory now!"

Wefud complied as the Sagan's main dish flashed and sent out a powerful subspace shock wave. Normal starships would have picked up the shock wave and sensors would have automatically adjusted to the sudden shift in the subspace field. The Imperial sensor nets, still new to the variables of subspace suddenly lost track of the two tiny ships. The sensors automatically re-calibrated, searching along new frequencies, but the Enterprise and Sagan were for all intents and purposes, invisible.

The two ships quickly slipped away form the Executioner's flak bursts, the mighty Star Destroyer began firing along the Enterprise's last known trajectory.

"We are out from under the flak bursts, subspace fields stabilizing."

"The Thunderchild?" Jim asked pointedly.

"Captured by the enemy, I'm picking up boarding parties all through ship."

"Get us out of here, maximum warp to the closest starbase." Jim ordered stonily, staring at the enemy fleet on his screen. He swore that he would avenge this attack. Whether he was out of time or not, this was his Federation and he would be damned if he would let an enemy take what was he had sworn an oath to defend and protect.

"Sagan is following us sir."

Jim sat back and sighed deeply. Things were not going to be easy any time soon. His thoughts turned to Captain Saben and his crew. He wondered darkly what the enemy had planned for them. Of course, the greater question was, what did the enemy plan for the Federation?


	12. Chapter 12

*Meanwhile, across the galaxy...*

The Iron Fist plowed through a cloud of ever-expanding fire and debris as another wing of Romulan warbirds disappeared under the withering fire of the fleet's turbolasers. The Iron Fist's escorts were leading the charge, mercilessly ripping through the Romulan fleet's defensive lines. There were no strategic or tactical niceties. This was raw firepower applied against an inferior defensive force.

Daala watched the dance of death outside her view port with the interest that a doctor gives his a patient. She noticed one of the massive warbirds drifting to port, power systems destroyed and one of the nacelles reduced to glowing slag.

"Have recovery teams launched to that warbird. I want some functioning models of their cloaking devices." Daala ordered. Kratas nodded and quickly relayed the order.

"Seven more warbirds have decloaked to the extreme right flank. They're concentrating their fire on the Relentless." Kratas reported.

"Ignore them, keep pushing for their home world." Daala ordered. She paused for a moment. "Have our sensors been calibrated yet to pierce their cloaks? It is becoming tiresome to keep having these ships appear in our lines."

"We're having trouble compensating for the subspace portion of their cloak, but we have started to detect them partially through simple grav shadow analysis." Kratas responded.

Daala nodded as another warbird erupted far off to the port side. Her fleet was moving as quickly as it could, pushing, no, shoving its way to the world that was slowly looming ahead.

"Admiral. It is time for a demonstration of our power." Marek spoke for the first time since the engagement began. The entire campaign, if this several hour attack could be called such was Marek's idea. The fleet had emerged from hyperspace near a militarized portion of the Federation border. While Marek dispatched two Star Destroyers to capture Federation ships and prisoners their sensors had picked up another empire operating on the other side of the border.

Marek had watched an analysis of the communications they had intercepted as well as tactical data. They called themselves Romulans. Marek, with that odd intuition of his stated quite firmly that they were ripe for conquest. The destruction of the fleet and occupation of their space would provide the Imperial fleet with a base of operations and raw materials to supply their needs.

Daala could find nothing wrong with the desire to create a base of operations. Frankly, she was growing concerned that the fleet would remain baseless, drifting through this galaxy like ghosts searching for the way home. But to steal away an entire empire's resources seemed a bit…ambitious. They were a powerful fleet, of that there was no doubt. Nearly an entire sector fleet devoted to the destruction of the Ssi Ruuvi. But to attack and hold the amount of space that Marek was proposing troubled her. They had an overwhelming advantage in firepower and defensive equipment. But they did not have the raw numbers to hold much of anything. A few worlds perhaps, and if there was a concerted resistance, how long then?

Of course there was also the unspoken thought that perhaps by establishing bases, a mini-empire, that hope of returning home was lost.

"Your orders, Lord Marek?" Daala asked.

Marek eyed Daala for a moment, and a chill passed down her spine. The man may have heard his thoughts, they were not treasonous, but then again, Daala knew almost nothing of this Sith Lord. He may kill just for the thrill.

"Prepare to fire the superlaser."

"Lord?" Kratas stammered, turning his head sharply to look at Marek.

"Target the Romulan home world of Romulas, leave Remus alone. If I recall correctly, Remus has the resources?"

"Correct, my Lord. There seems to be heavy mining throughout the planet, our probe droids are reporting Tibanna gas in many of those mines."

"Excellent." Marek replied with a nod.

Daala nodded to Kratas.

Kratas hesitantly turned to the weapons officers.

"Prepare the laser." He shouted down to the pit.

"Aye captain."

"Target the largest metropolitan area, maximum population density." Marek ordered. His voice had dropped slightly as he spoke. Daala did not look back. It was almost as if the Sith lord had not wanted to say that. Almost.

"That would be on the night side of the planet, my lord. We will need a few more minutes to maneuver into firing position."

"Excellent. Admiral?"

"My Lord?"

"Order all fighters and bombers recovered. As soon as the last of our wings is back in the hangars, order all ships to cease firing as we move into firing position."

"My Lord?"

"Let the Romulans fire on us at will, Admiral." He ordered tersely. Daala blinked several times. It went against all her instincts as an Imperial officer to allow an enemy to fire on her fleet.

"All will be revealed to you in time, Admiral. Until then I demand absolute obedience." Daala felt phantom fingers brush against her throat and ice formed in her stomach.

"Of course, my Lord." Daala turned on her heel and walked over to Kratas who was busy overseeing the deployment of the superlaser.

"Recover all wings."

"Admiral?"

"Captain, I want all wings back in their hangars as soon as possible." Daala orderd.

"Of course, Admiral." Kratas replied and nodded to his squadron commander. Daala watched the battle again. Slowly the fighters began to breakaway. Many of them had spent the last few hours jinking and weaving through the green hulled giants that were the Romulan warbirds. Their fire constantly peppered the capital ships and many fighters formed wedges, protecting the tight TIE Bomber formations that were scoring impressive victories, many taking down these ships in a single pass.

Now the fighters were peeling away in a uniform retreat back to the base ships. The Bombers first, many electing to fire one last wave of torpedoes before winging it back to their respective ships. She smiled softly. Her men never ceased to amaze her. They did their best to damage the enemy even in retreat. That is why we'll win. She thought to herself.

"Recovering fighters and bombers, superlaser has been unveiled. Reactor cores are charging the emitter." Kratas reported.

The nose of the Iron fist slowly opened, armored portions sliding back into the hull revealing a flat channel, with several smaller emitters forming a perfect circle around the central iris. The smaller emitters swiveled around three times in a pre-firing systems check before locking into firing position. The fleet continued forward, slowly turning as the Iron Fist slid into firing position, facing the night side of Romulas. More warbirds were decloaking, some obviously just coming out of warp. Orbital defensive batteries that had remained silent until now opened fire. Hundreds of plasma torpedoes suddenly flashed over to the fleet, splashing in whitish green explosions on the fleet's shields.

"All ships recovered. Sir, intensity of enemy fire has increased significantly." Kratas warned.

"We have our orders." Daala replied frostily and watched as her fleet continued onward, explosions beginning to increase in number and intensity as dozens of warbirds started to slash their way towards the Iron Fist.

"It did not take them long to take advantage of the lack of fire." Kratas muttered as the warbirds began attacking the Iron Fist en masse.

"Time until we are in firing position?" Daala asked.

"Four minutes and we will be in optimal range."

"Good."

"Lord Marek, the bulk of their warbirds are now ignoring the rest of the fleet and concentrating all fire on us." Daala commented hoping that perhaps she could sway the dark lord.

Marek smiled in cold satisfaction.

"So much the better, Admiral. So much the better."

Daala turned back to look out the view port. The Iron Fist was literally bathed in green fire. Dozens of Warbirds were flanking her hungrily, firing continuously into her shield grid.

"Main energizers near capacity." The tactical officer reported.

"Superlaser is now fully charged." Kratas relayed to Daala.

"We will be in primary firing position in two minutes." Navigation reported.

"Admiral, when we achieve primary firing position, hold your fire until my order." Marek said coldly and continued staring out the port over Daala's shoulder.

"What is our shield status?" Daala quietly asked Kratas.

"Holding, but there is an awful lot of energy getting poured into the grid." Kratas answered.

The bridge was silent as they continued on towards Romulas' night side. The warbirds now ignored the fleet and simply swarmed the Iron Fist. The great flagship slowly rotated and faced the planet.

"We are in primary firing position."

"Hold, Admiral."

Daala held her breath as the orbital platforms started concentrating their fire on the Iron Fist as well. It seemed to her that the entire Romulan defense network was firing on them as one.

Marek remained silent, watching the pyrotechnic display outside with a cold gaze.

Another minute went by and Daala briefly considered suggesting at least some counter fire. She remembered Pegin's shattered body and decided against it. Kratas was far less calm about it, he kept pacing over to the tactical station and checking the shield status.

Another minute and Marek finally spoke.

"You may fire when ready, Admiral."

Daala turned to Kratas.

"Lock the superlaser on target and fire."

"Aye aye."

"Commence primary ignition." The tactical officer stated and displays lit up all along the weapons pit. The nose of the Iron Fist began to glow as power flowed to the main and smaller emitters. The Romulan fire seemed to intensify as they sensors picked up the enormous energy spike.

Marek stared hard at the screen, as if willing something to happen. Daala and Kratas both leaned forward slightly, ready for anything.

The blast from the Iron Fist erupted forth in a green beam of raw destructive power as it lanced into the planet. On the night side of Romulas, for the largest city on the planet, night became day. The green superlaser burned through the air, literally igniting it with its passage and struck the earth with the sound of Armageddon. Instantly, the city was vaporized, millions died before they could utter a sound. The blast continued on unopposed into the planet's crust, thrusting through the rocky outer layer of the planet and exposing the molten mantle beneath. Huge geysers of molten rock spewed forth into the atmosphere. The blast shock wave began rippling along the surface like a monstrous thing, completely obliterating all in its path, cities, mountain ranges, even oceans boiled away at its passage. Several hundred million instantly died with the shock wave, many more would perish as the resulting earthquakes and fires damaged vital matter/antimatter reactors, causing a chain reaction of core breeches throughout the planet. White flashes of core breaches slowly appeared, circling the night side like a string of pearls.

Daala stared in awe. Kratas looked down at a readout.

"Admiral, the superlaser discharged the full effect, no deviation from simulated results. The weapon has preformed precisely to expectations."

"Can you feel it now, Admiral?" Marek asked quietly as he suddenly appeared standing right behind them. "Can you feel the fear swelling in them now? They have fired on us with all of their weapons, every defensive system, all their warships for over five minutes without us firing a single shot and it accomplished nothing." He smiled coldly as realization slowly dawned on Daala's face. "They are now faced with the awful certainty that they can do nothing against us. I will offer them an alternative." Marek strode past them and stalked over to the communications section.

"I want a transmission broadcast to all the Romulan ships, beam my image to the surface of Romulas and Remus."

"Aye My lord."

Marek folded his arms and stared intently at the holo-imager. It suddenly lit up.

"Transmitting My Lord."

"People of the Romulan Star Empire. I am Galen Marek, leader of the advance forces of the Galactic Empire and the Apprentice to Darth Vader. You have seen a small demonstration of our power. As I speak, we are transmitting to the rest of your empire a full playback of the battle to control the space above your home world. It will clearly show that your defense forces fought a valiant but useless battle to stop us. The end result is the destruction of a major continent or your planet Romulas. I am prepared to offer a truce between our empires. The Romulan Star Empire will be allowed to survive as a client state of the Galactic Empire and her Emperor. You will surrender your arms and your fleets will now belong to us to do with as we wish. If the Romulan Star Empire does not accede to this demand, then I will fire the superlaser again, and this time Romulas will be nothing but rubble and I will not stop until Remus is laid waste then I will continue on outward, eradicating every world that harbors your people. I will sterilize this space of your kind and in the end there will not be a single monument, placard or even ruins to say that you ever existed at all. Your space will be filled with the rubble of your dead worlds and the shattered hulls of your ineffectual warships. No cloaking device can save you now. You either bow to the will of the Empire, or be exterminated like vermin. Make no mistake, there will be no second chances, I will not make this offer again. Once I start the great slaughter it will not be stopped. This is your sole chance at life. You have precisely 5 of your minutes to comply." Marek nodded and the holo-imager shut off.

"Lord, it will take longer than five minutes to recharge the superlaser, and it will certainly not shatter their world in the next shot, it will take many shots to imitate the true effects of the Death Star superlaser." Daala warned.

Marek smiled.

"Admiral. I know fear. Fear and I are intimate allies. Fear attracts the weak and the powerful. We will use fear throughout this campaign to win a new empire for our Emperor and to get our brave fleet back home." Marek answered.

Kratas was watching the destruction of the Romulan planet's major continent. Slowly, great cracks marked with crimson molten rock were spreading along the continental shelf, large portions of the center, the initial impact site of the superlaser was breaking open like the opening of a rose blossom. Enormous chunks of the crust were sinking into the molten mantle until several hundred square kilometers of crust disappeared leaving what looked like an angry red eye staring back at him.

"It is beautiful." Kratas whispered.

"Careful Captain. We are Imperial officers, this is a duty not a pleasure." Daala responded coolly. Kratas glanced back at his Admiral and nodded.

"Of course, Admiral." Kratas replied respectfully. He noted the celebrations amongst the weapons crews, they had successfully fired the first ship mounted superlaser. He could imagine what it would mean for the Empire once they had one on every command ship. No world would be safe, none could hide from the New Order.

"We have seen the dawn of the end of the rebellion." Kratas said emphatically.

"Once we are home and the rebels lay down their arms, I will agree with you my friend, but for now, let us focus on the task at hand. How long until Lord Marek's ultimatum runs out?" Daala replied, watching the warbirds slowly circling them. They had stopped firing the moment Marek began speaking.

"Two minutes."

"Are you picking up communication?" Marek asked.

"Yes, my lord, there are hundreds of tight beamed transmissions between the ships and the planet. There are also furious transmissions between the central command and the various political centers that remain functioning."

Marek nodded.

"Prepare to launch fighters and bombers. Make sure the bombers are all reloaded before sending them out." Daala ordered as she prepared to assume the worst.

"That will not be necessary, Admiral. Unless I am sorely mistaken, we will receive the answer that we are looking for very shortly." Marek interjected. Daala nodded hesitantly.

"Captain Drayson is going to kill us when he finds out we have been engaged in a battle of this magnitude without him, particularly that he was not here for the firing of the superlaser." Kratas commented with a wry smile.

Daala smiled softly in return.

"Captain Drayson will be most displeased indeed."

Time passed swiftly.

"The ultimatum runs out in 5 seconds."

"My lord?" Daala asked.

Marek raised a hand in a waiting gesture.

"We are receiving a transmission from the Romulan flagship."

"Put it through."

"This is Admiral T'vor of the Romulan Defensive Fleet. We are complying with your demand, Lord Marek. The Romulan fleet is standing down, defensive batteries are shutting down. We await your word." The voice was cold and there was real anger brewing beneath the surface. Marek smiled.

"They are not happy." Kratas noted with a smug smile.

"They are a practical people. They know when they are beaten and they are survivors. They will do anything to survive, even surrender."

"Cowards." Kratas replied bitterly.

"Don't be so sure, my friend. They have lost millions of lives in a matter of moments and they are impotent against us. It was a reasonable conclusion to accept life under Imperial rule than oblivion." Daala replied softly. Marek's eyes narrowed on the Admiral, but Daala did not notice because her back was to him.

"Admiral, I will leave the logistics to you. Start immediate landing, we need to let these people know immediately that we are in control. Begin calling in Romulan ships from all corners of their empire, I want no ships functioning independently away from us. Once we have a firm logistics train established we will prepare to extract the information we need from the Federation."

"Of course, my lord."

"And Admiral, bring me all data files from their military, I want to see all their secrets and what they know. Perhaps they have things to offer us that we are unaware of. You have free reign to do what you need to restore order."

"Anything my lord?" Daala asked pointedly.

"I will ask no questions, just restore order, that is my only command."

"Of course my lord. It shall be done."

"Lord Marek, Captain Drayson is signaling that he has secured a Federation starship as well as its crew. He is ready to jump to our coordinates." Kratas reported with satisfaction.

Marek nodded.

"Inform Captain Drayson that he is to proceed here immediately. I want to personally attend to the interrogations."

"Yes my lord."

Marek stalked off the bridge. Kratas sighed softly as he imagined what awaited the miserable bastard that fell into Marek's hands. He smiled coldly for a moment as a thought occurred to him.

"Let me speak directly to Captain Drayson."

"Aye Captain." The tech handed him a headset.

"Drayson, it's Kratas, was it a tough battle against the Federation ship?" He listened and nodded. "I see, no challenge at all….mmm..rebel freighters have given you more trouble? Mmmm…I thought you might like to know that we have just conquered one of the empires bordering the Federation border….it was glorious, hours of intense mortal combat against hundreds of ships…" Kratas suppressed the laugh as Drayson's outraged voice drifted over the headphone. "And we test fired the superlaser on their home world." Drayson's outrage became a shout of anger and the line went dead. Kratas's face became calm and professional again as he handed the tech back the headphones.

As Kratas turned Daala was standing right behind him.

"Are you quite finished, Captain?"

"Of course. I was just endeavoring to keep our fleet elements appraised of our status." Kratas replied with a straightface, looking straight ahead at attention.

"I'm sure you were, but I would be careful if I were you, Commander. Captain Drayson is not one to be toyed with. He once had to chase a rebel ship through five star systems and an asteroid field before finally capturing the ship. What he did to the rebel crew has gone done in the legends of Imperial interrogators for years afterwards. Don't toy with the Gundark or you will get the fangs." Daala replied just as straight faced.

Kratas nodded.

"Begin landing operations immediately and I want you to see to the occupation personally captain."

"Yes Admiral." Kratas replied and stepped away.

Daala watched him leave and could not help but smile. Drayson was going to skin Kratas alive if he caught him. Funny that, even in this dark, forsaken place far from home and order, they could still find time to smile. Behind Daala, the great angry red eye in the center of Romulas glared at them all in accusation.


	13. Chapter 13

HYPERBEAM TRANSMISSION FROM UNIMATRIX 001 TO TACTICAL FLEET TA900887. TIMESTAMP: 0:205:36

INITIAL FLEET DEPLOYMENT 89% COMPLETE. REMAINING FLEET ELEMENTS EXPECTED IN 9.2 HOURS. DEPLOYMENT OF STRATEGIC CUBES EXPECTED, WEAPONS LOADOUTS UNDER REVIEW. EXPECTED DECISION IN 2.3 HOURS. REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL REPAIR DRONES DENIED, CURRENT DEPLOYMENT OF 1,000,000,000 DRONES EXPECTED TO BE SUFFICIENT FOR INITIAL ENGAGEMENT.

HYPERBEAM TRANSMISSION FROM UNIMATRIX 001 TO TACTICAL FLEET TA900887. TIMESTAMP 0:207:00

CURRENT MISSION PARAMETERS ARE: 1) ENGAGE IMPERIAL FORCES WHERE POSSIBLE, ATTEMPT TO BOARD AND ASSIMILATE ONE OF THEIR STARSHIPS. [CROSS REFERENCE NOTATION: PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS TO TRANSPORT DRONES ONTO IMPERIAL WARSHIPS HAVE PROVEN IMPOSSIBLE. SHIELD STRENGTH IS RATED CLASS 10, NO KNOWN FREQUENCY MODULATION IN SHIELDS SUGGEST A SHIELD GENERATION TECHNOLOGY THAT IS ADVANCED BEYOND MULTIPHASIC SHIELDS. COUNTERMEASURES BEING DEVISED.] CONTINUE BOARDING ACTION ATTEMPTS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. 2) ASSIMILATE CREWS TO DISCOVER LOCATION OF IMPERIAL HOME SYSTEM. [ASTROMETRICS CROSS REFERENCE FILE: EXTENSIVE SCANS OF SURROUNDING SYSTEMS AND DEEP PROBES HAVE REVEALED PROBABILITY OF IMPERIAL SHIPS ORIGINATING IN THIS GALAXY: 4.09%. ] [METALURGIC CROSS REFERENCE: EXTENSIVE ANALYSIS OF HULL MATERIAL FROM WRECKAGE OF IMPERIAL SHIP INDICATES METALS AND POLYMERS NOT NORMALLY FOUND IN KNOWN STAR SYSTEMS. PROBABILITY THAT THE METAL ALLY COULD HAVE ORIGINATED FROM THIS GALAXY: 0.25%] 3) EVENTUAL ASSAULT AND ASSIMILATION OF IMPERIAL HOME SYSTEM. PRODUCTION FACILITIES HAVE BEGUN IMMEDIATE CREATION OF NEW VESSELS. PRODUCTION INCREASE OF 300% WILL BE SUSTAINED UNTIL CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES. ATTACHED DETAILED REPORT OF IMPERIAL FORCES TO DATE.

ALL OTHER PRIORITIES RESCINDED

HYPERBEAM TRANSMISSION TO UNIMATRIX 001 FROM TACTICAL FLEET TA900887. TIMESTAMP 0:208:09

ORDERS TRANSMITTED AND RECEIVED. TACTICAL FLEET TA900887 WILL COMPLY. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.


	14. Chapter 14

Saben groaned. He remembered something. What was it? It was hovering just on the edge of his consciousness. There was a flash of something else.

The cold steel of the restraints bolted to his wrist snapped him back into focus. He was strapped to a platform. Numerous small devices hung off to the side, including needles and small saws. The restraints were strapped tightly around his wrists, waist, neck, thighs and his feet were slapped into tight stirrups that cupped them in a cold metallic embrace. He wore his Starfleet uniform, damp with his sweat.

He remembered what it was he trying to focus on.

"Saben Trax, Captain, USS Thunderchild, United Federation of Planets, Service Number 44AA9885."

"Yes, Captain Trax, I've heard this tale before." the cold voice drifted in the darkness of the room. His bed was bathed in a sharp white light, the rest of the room was dark. At best, he could make out some shapes moving in the darkness but otherwise it was as if he were alone, save for the voice.

The speaker stepped into view again. He looked so young, black hair kept in a short crew cut and a nose that looked as if he may have been in a brawl in his youth, slightly pushed to the side, otherwise a young handsome face. His intense brown eyes regarded Saben with sympathy.

"I am trying to save you, Captain. This troublesome tendency of yours to repeat information that I can discern by reading your identity chit is hardly what I am looking for."

"Saben Trax, Captain, USS Thunderchild, United Federation of Planets, Service Number 44AA9885." He replied more forcefully now, putting more emphasis on each word. He stared hard at the young man dressed in black.

"Perhaps we did not make ourselves clear earlier, hmmm?" the young man gestured with a finger and one of the small attachments suddenly came to life, it buzzed like a drill and slowly swung over to his arm. Saben's eyes widened and he stared at it.

"Pain is such a terrible thing to have to endure." The drill bit into his flesh and he threw back his head against the metal frame of the bed and screamed. There was no blood, only pain. He could feel it, tearing through his flesh but his uniform remained untouched.

"The phase needle is just one of the many implements I have at my disposal. There are more…invasive methods I could apply. Perhaps you would like to have a look at your insides, Captain? There are drugs I can give you that would keep you awake and completely lucid even as I slowly extracted your intestines and handed them to you."

Saben's screams stopped as the needle buzzed back away from his arm. The young man leaned in closer.

"You do want to talk don't you?" He touched his forehead. His skin was dry and cool, Saben's hot and damp with perspiration. Saben began to nod and stopped himself suddenly. Something within him wanted to respond to the young man, wanted to tell him everything but he grit his teeth and centered himself.

"Why endure this?" He asked seriously.

"Saben..., Trax,.. Captain.., USS Thunderchild.., United.. Federation.. of.. Planets, Service… Number.. 44AA9885." Saben replied, ignoring the dimming of his sight.

"I can take so much from you, Captain. Not just your sight."

Saben found himself plunged in darkness. He struggled vainly. He could not see and it panicked him. He had never liked darkness, ever since his father lost his sight in an engineering accident he had been afraid of blindness. To live in a world of darkness was greater than any pain.

"I know about your father." The young man whispered in his ear. "I can give you back your sight with but a thought." Suddenly Saben could see again. The young man hovered over him, face impassive like that of a surgeon. "There is nothing to gain from suffering any more Captain. I am trying to spare you the agony that will undoubtedly come if you continue to deny me."

The young man pursed his lips for a moment and nodded to himself.

"I can imagine that you are trying to be strong for the sake of your crew. But I must tell you that they have all spoken, they were all quite malleable to our will. Why remain strong if they have refused to be as resolute as you?"

"Liar." Saben spat through dry cracked lips.

The young man smiled. It was as if Saben's response was precisely what he had been waiting for.

"Captain, allow me to adjust this table slightly." The young man moved his hand gently along the top of the table, he did not touch any controls but the table suddenly slipped down and pivoted, putting Saben in a semi-standing position. A hologram fluttered into being. He recognized the face. Security chief Lehman was hesitantly looking up at the imager.

"You killed my men." He accused, eyes locked on the unseen observer in impotent anger. He was in a similar table, strapped down.

"They resisted the Empire, their fate was sealed the moment they took up arms against us." The voice was not the young man's it was a woman's voice and Saben recognized it as the voice of the woman who had stormed onto his bridge.

"They surrendered to you in engineering and you gunned them down in cold blood you heartless-!" Ben shouted.

"Let us begin." She said emotionlessly.

The hologram fluttered, obviously an edit and then Ben seemed to be unconscious on the table. A woman's hand drifted into view and touched a control on the table. A small needle jabbed Ben in the thigh and he awoke suddenly as if he had been slapped, his eyes wide with fear and breathing hard like a jackhammer.

"Stop!" he shouted.

"I haven't begun, yet, Mr. Lehman. I was just awakening you for the next step in the interrogation. You remember these, don't you?" Two large saw like devices sprung out at chest level and hovered menacingly over Ben. His eyes betrayed absolute terror. "Our medical droids had trouble keeping you alive last time because of the lack of adrenaline you had in your system, but with the new drugs we've administered that should not be a problem….would you like me to begin now? Perhaps this time we will simply explore the nerve endings before plunging right in, hmmm?"

"Stop it! Stop! This is inhuman!"

"No, Mr. Lehman. Inhuman is the next stage of the interrogation. This is simply the preliminaries." The voice replied coolly. Ben's eyes widened as far as they could, nearly bulging as the soft whine began and the blades slowly descended towards him.

"Stop please, I'll tell you what you want to know but stop it!" He screamed with an agonizing mix of utter despair and shame.

The blades stopped an inch from his flesh.

"That wasn't so hard, now was it, Mr. Lehman? Let us discuss the tactical layout of your starship's security grids. Leave no detail out because I will know."

Ben nodded and his head fell back against the metal frame of the bed in utter defeat.

"Turn it off." Saben asked.

Ben started to sob softly and the camera focused on his tormented face.

"Turn it off!" Saben shouted.

"As you wish." the hologram shimmered and disappeared. The young man turned to regard Saben neutrally.

"You broke him down, tortured him. What are you people, animals? Humans don't do this to each other."

The young man looked genuinely surprised for a moment.

"Your crew all clung to that notion until we started being inhuman as you put it. We are very much human and we will get what we want, Captain. This is my last plea to you, save yourself. The agony that I have in store for you will make your security chief's pain insignificant. There is no hope, there is no way you can stand against us. Your communications officer was a member of a race you know as Beta Zeds. He tried to shut his mind away using psionic trickery." The young man smiled coldly. "I disabused him of the notion that his psionic talents were any match for the dark side of the Force. Unfortunately his mind could not stand the stress of my probes and he is no longer…sentient, I believe the term is."

"You took Lieutenant Wood's mind?" Saben gasped in shock and revulsion.

"Took is a difficult word, I prefer the term tear. I tore it out from him. He has been executed as a mercy. I do not think your crew would want to see the twitching, drooling mess that remained of that young man."

"Monster." Saben spat.

"Why this loyalty, Captain? You are defending an institution that routinely discards its citizens as if they were nothing more than spare parts. I believe that you had a war with a race known as Cardasians. To seal the peace, your government sacrificed hundreds of thousands of colonists and the worlds they called home. The colonists that refused to leave their homes were summarily expelled from your peace loving empire and left to the mercies of your enemies." The young man leaned in closer, anger in his eyes. "Then when the colonists, no longer your citizens actually started winning their insurrection against your former enemy, your government cravenly began to assist the Cardasians in hunting them down, opposing their bid for life and freedom, despite the fact that you knew they were supplying their own colonists with weapons….shameful really. To give up territory for peace is unthinkable in the New Order. You see, Captain, in my galaxy, the Empire actually PROTECTS its citizens. We do not barter away their worlds and their lives because we fear any more bloodshed in battle. We do battle and die for the citizens of the Empire because it is expected of us."

Saben stared in shock, where had he gotten such detailed information in such a short time?

"I would have very much liked to have met these Maquis, they must have had such steel, passion, but then again, they conveniently all died in the war against the Dominion. I do believe that they requested assistance from your government and again were ignored. Is there no shame?" the young man asked pointedly.

"I don't have to explain myself or the Federation to the likes of you!" Saben replied bitterly.

The young man looked down at him and his smile was one of ice.

"Won't or can't, Captain. I wonder which one it is." The young man paused and sighed softly.

"Tell me what I wish to know." His voice had a strange quality to it, and again Saben nearly responded, as if he wanted to reply to please him, but again he reigned himself in and grit his teeth.

He locked eyes with the young man.

"Saben Trax, Captain, USS Thunderchild, United Federation of Planets, Service Number 44AA9885." He stated stonily.

The young man remained frozen in place for a moment, blinked, then nodded. He turned away and suddenly a strange floating globe drifted into view. It was spehreical, black and a single red eye regarded everything with a detached calm. He also noted the gruesome attachments along the body of the sphere - Sharp, wicked attachments.

"Break him. Break his body, do with it what you will, but break him physically. Once he is broken I will come for his mind…spare him no pain, the only authorized drugs are the ones to keep him awake and lucid." He ordered. The droid slowly floated towards Saben.

"Oh, and one more thing Captain." The young man raised his hand and made a cutting motion. A curtain of darkness dropped across his vision. Saben struggled then he heard the buzzing of the vibroblades.

The buzz became a hiss as it touched flesh and then there was only the pain and the darkness.


	15. Chapter 15

Marek strode out of the interrogation chamber, his face clouded by anger. Daala hesitantly stepped up to him.

"My Lord?"

"What is it, Admiral?" Marek asked in a tight voice.

"Admiral T'Vor of the Romulan defense fleet. He has been appointed by the Praetor of the Romulan star empire to be our liaison with the government." Daala introduced the tall gaunt Romulan commander with eyes like steel. There was still anger in his eyes as he grimly sized up the young man in the black tunic. T'Vor thought it had been a trick of the holograms that this young boy could be leading such a mighty armada. If he were from the Federation, T'Vor guessed he would just be entering Starfleet academy at this point.

"I consider it a sign of ability and power more than age, Admiral." Marek replied with a ghost of a smile on his lips. T'Vor was taken aback but his face betrayed nothing.

"Lord Marek. I have come at your fleet's request. I understand that you had a question for me?" T'Vor replied coolly.

"Indeed I do, Admiral."

Suddenly they heard the sound of running feet and Kratas rounded the corner. He stopped short and snapped to attention as he saw Daala and Marek standing before him.

"Captain, what is the meaning of this? Officers do not run on Imperial warships, certainly not Commanders!" Daala snapped.

"My apologies, Admiral, Lord Marek. But I have news." He sounded out of breath. Had he run all the decks from the bridge to here? Daala wondered.

"Well, what is it, Commander?" Marek asked testily.

"We have just received a transmission from the Emperor."

Daala stiffened and Marek's eyes widened slightly.

"The Emperor?"

"It has been verified."

"I will take the message in my chambers, immediately!" Marek ordered and stalked away. T'Vor watched the exchange with interest.

Daala turned to the admiral.

"Wait here, Lord Marek will want to speak to you as soon as he is done."

Marek strode into his chamber. Mara Jade smiled as he entered and bowed slightly.

"My Lord I'm ready to give you my after action report on the boardi-"

"Leave me now." He snapped and stalked over to his holonet receiver.

"My lord?" Mara asked, confused.

"I am about to receive a transmission from the Emperor, leave me." He said the last part with a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

Mara nodded and quickly left, torn by the fact that she would not be able to see the Emperor. As the doors slid shut behind her the holonet transmitter sprang to life and a very distorted and faint image wavered on.

Marek knelt and bowed his head.

"What is thy bidding, my master?"

"Lord Marek, this message has been dispatched in the hopes that you will receive it wherever it is that you have found yourself. Your fleet disappeared from our sensor nets more than two weeks ago." Two weeks ago? They had only been gone four days? The image wavered and almost broke up, lines of static snow constantly flashed across the image. "Despite attempts by probe droids and our fastest ships, we have been unable to find you within the confines of Imperial space. The time grows near when the Empire will embark on its greatest mission, the destruction of the Alliance. I am loathe to do so without my newest Sith Lord at my side, my young apprentice, but it is obvious that you have stumbled upon something we have never encountered before. Bevel and some of my scientific advisers have analyzed the data our ships returned from your last location and theorizes that you may have fallen into a wormhole. You may be on the other side of the universe." The Emperor paused, anger clear on his desiccated face. "The fates have conspired to take you from our side, Lord Vader and I are anxious that you find a way to return, until that happens trust in what I have taught you, use your aggressive feelings and hold on to your anger, let it feed you, let the dark side grow within you and it will bring you back to me."  
Marek nodded, feeling the soothing touch of the shadows. But the message had stirred more in him than he had hoped. How could it be possible that they were receiving a message from two weeks into their future?

"I am departing for Endor tomorrow. Lord Vader will meet me there. If you are on your way back, meet us at Endor, there we will crush the insignificant rebellion and you will be raised as an equal at my side. Together, we will restore order and crush the pitiful lying light side once and for all." With that, the Emperor's image faded.

Marek remained kneeling for a long moment. How was this possible? He slowly rose and activated a comlink.

"Admiral?"

"My Lord?"

"The quality of the transmission was abominable. Either have your communications officer disciplined or give me an explanation."

"Actually, my Lord, I was waiting for you to finish hearing the message. Our communications station was running an analysis on the message, in the hopes of discovering the source so we could at least have a general idea in which direction our galaxy lies, the analysis of the transmission has provided some very disturbing information."

"I have no time for games, Admiral."

"The message is date tagged two weeks after our disappearance, however, the signal decay and other factors peg the age of the transmission as being…over three thousand years old."

Marek blinked.

"And considering the speed at which holonet transmissions travel…the distance must be nearly impossible to comprehend…at least three thousand years at our fastest hyperspace rate."

Marek shook his head. The words were refusing to sink in.

"In other words my lord, it seems that this transmission originated a long time ago in a galaxy far far away."


	16. Chapter 16

"...and that is my report." Jim finished. He was standing in the office of Commodore William Chang. Chang was staring at Jim for a moment too long. Jim leaned in a little.

"Commodore, I would really appreciate it, if you didn't do that." He stage whispered, exchanging a glance with Wefud, who was grinning wryly. Tock stood impassively between them.

"I'm sorry, Captain. It's just..well…you're Captain Jim." Chang replied and kicked himself. He sounded like some teenager gawking at a sports star.

"I am well aware of that Commodore. But I think that my report is far more important than who I am. We are looking at a possible invasion of the Federation by warships the likes of which I have never seen and from what I gather neither have you." Jim responded, finding it hard to get used to the reactions from the people and crew of the starbase. He eyed the Commodore's uniform with some curiosity, how could those things be comfortable? He adjusted his gold shirt slightly.

"Captain, we have our tactical people analyzing your sensor logs as well as the Sagan's. But from what I could see they pose a definite threat to the Federation not to mention they captured a Starfleet vessel. This is a undoubtedly a crisis, but we don't have much more to go on until we have the data completely analyzed. Then command can send us some reinforcements."

"Reinforcements? What about the ships on station in this sector? Just pull them off and we can form a small task force, go hunt these ships down and see if we can't give them a bloody nose." Jim replied.

"They will undoubtedly grow bolder if we don't respond to this attack quickly. There is also the concern that the longer the crew of the Thunderchild is in enemy hands the more information they can extract." Tock added.

"I've known Captain Saben for 12 years. He will not tell the enemy anything!" Chang protested.

"Commodore, no man can resist torture for very long, it's only a matter of time until you break. It is our duty to make sure that Saben is not in enemy hands for very long." Jim warned.

"Despite the illogical of your contention, Commodore, there is also the fact the enemy has recovered an intact Federation starship's computer core. It will only be a matter of time until they can download the data." Tock said.

"Who said anything about torture? Captain Jim, I know that in your time, things were a little more…rough. But there hasn't been that kind of treatment of prisoners in this sector for a long time." Chang said condescendingly. Jim frowned.

"So you're answer is to sit on our hands and wait? I'm willing to take the Enterprise out again, we're on the outskirts of the neutral zone, we recall some of the ships on patrol and we should have enough for a task force."

"Captain, with all due respect, your Enterprise is over 100 years old and doesn't have the speed, weapons or power generation to keep up with our ships. It's best if you stay here at the Starbase until we can come to a decision from command. Besides, there just aren't enough ships to form a task force available. We need reinforcements from other sectors."

"Not enough ships?! We're right by the neutral zone?!" Wefud exclaimed.

"Bones." Jim interjected, covering up his own shock at the revelation.

"Mr. Wefud, we just had a war against the Dominion, a power you are not familiar with, the Romulans were our allies in that battle and the Federation counsel has decided that to foster better relations with the Romulans we would pull back the majority of our fleet from neutral zone patrol…besides, the losses Starfleet suffered in the war were near catastrophic, it will take years to replace the men and ships we lost." Chang replied coolly.

"Commodore, I'll abide by your decision but I cannot stress further the danger we are in. The power readings Tock took from those ships indicate a weapons power level we have never seen before, they could even take this starbase if they wanted to and we only saw two ships. If they have a fleet tucked away somewhere…I don't want to think about what could happen. I strongly urge you to do something and soon, or the only one that's going to have any future in the Federation is my crew, since we're from the past." Jim replied hotly.

"I will take it under advisement, Captain. I cannot stress more that you crew much remain on board the Enterprise. We cannot risk further contamination of the time line."

"I understand, Commodore." Jim nodded brusquely and walked away, Tock and Wefud following closely behind. As they walked out of the office, Jim ignored the gawks and stares from some of the staff and strode out towards the transporter room. As he walked Wefud started talking.

"Jim, we're not just going to sit on our hands, are we?" Wefud pressed.

"The Captain is well aware of his duties to the Federation." Tock replied wanly.

Jim began to respond when the entire corridor seemed to flash and there was a slow thumping sound, like the beating of a massive heart. Jim paused, looking around quickly for signs of an attack. The corridor seemed paler, almost as if he were seeing them through a yellowed lens. Tock and Wefud were standing calmly by his side.

"Did you see that?" Jim asked.

"I'm sorry Captain Jim, it took me awhile to get used to it myself." A voice replied. Jim whirled around and saw a tall slim dark skinned human. His face was proud and strong, light shone off his shaved head and he had a gleam in his eyes. This person was obviously used to command.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Benjamin Sisko, Captain. I used to be a Federation officer and Captain of a space station called Deep Space Nine."

"The Sisko spends too much time indulging the Jim." Wefud interjected in a flat voice, his eyes vacant and staring at both of them. Jim stared at Wefud and looked back at Sisko.

"What the hell is going on here?" He demanded.

"Typically, the Jim grows angry and belligerent." Tock said in the same flat monotone. His eyes were more intense, they regarded Jim with an almost distasteful expression.

"The Jim is like the Sisko, unwilling to listen."

"Give me a moment to explain. Jim is as linear as I once was." Sisko replied calmly. He smiled kindly to Jim.

"I don't have much time to explain this to you. Projecting our thoughts this far from the wormhole is never easy and I had to use all my influence to even get them to try."

"Who are they, Captain?" Jim asked.

"Prophets, gods, aliens of such advanced state of being that they no longer have an understanding of linear space time. Take your pick" Sisko shrugged. His Starfleet uniform would occasionally melt into a pure white robe, hood draped down. Jim ignored this and focused on the man's words.

"I am here to tell you that you must come to Bajor."

"Bajor?"

"The Sisko is of Bajor." Wefud/Alien thing said.

"We are of Bajor." Tock/Alien thing said.

"Where is Bajor? What's that, a star system?"

"At Bajor you will find the temple of the ancients, in our parlance a wormhole. In this wormhole you must enter and there you will find assistance against your current crisis. The enemy you face is not of this galaxy."

"The Sisko speaks too much."

"The Sisko has been told the rules of the game."

"This isn't a game! All of reality is at stake, not just the lives of the Federation!" Sisko protested.

"The Sisko WILL comply with the rules." Wefud spoke.

"Or we will not aid the Jim." Tock added.

"You said the Jim was the key." Sisko replied softly.

Tock and Wefud glanced at each other with knowing expressions.

"The Jim is the key, hope rests in him as it rested in you." Tock rpelied.

"So help me and him. WE can save Bajor and everything else."

"Your message has been relayed. We will go now."

Sisko turned to Jim and gripped his arm tightly, jerking his face close to Jim's

"You must come to Bajor or all will be lost, help is already on the way but nothing can be done until you come."

"I will, I promise." Jim replied sternly and returned the captain's grip.

"You promise what Jim?" Wefud asked curiously.

"Huh? What?"

"You seem in a daze, Captain. Are you well?" Tock asked eying Jim.

"I'm fine, but we have a mission."

Wefud and Tock exchanged puzzled expressions.

"Tock do you know of a star system named Bajor?" Jim asked as he stepped into the transporter room. Another man was standing there in one of those odd modern Starfleet uniforms. He was not gawking, but instead was smiling warmly as he saw them enter. His rank seemed to indicate Captain, but Jim was not up on the latest insignias yet.

"Relatively little, Captain. We have some out of date long range probe data that proved inconclusive. We were planning on dispatching a long range mission into that sector of space but it has been on the drawing board for months."

"Something tells me we eventually made it to Bajor." Jim replied with a mysterious smile. "Perhaps I can be of assistance, Captain." The officer replied stepping in beside Jim.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Captain Entebbe, you saved my ship back there against those alien vessels."

Jim brightened.

"Captain of the Sagan?"

"That's right sir. I've been waiting here in the hopes of seeing you, thanking you personally and hell, I juts wanted to meet James Jim," he glanced over Jim's shoulder to Tock and beamed. "And Mr. Tock, the reason why I went into Starfleet, there's no better place to sharpen your science skills than here."

Tock nodded.

"Aren't we polluting the time line just by talking to you?" Wefud deadpanned.

Entebbe smiled jovially.

"Seriously, sir. I know where Bajor is and I may know what you want to see. The wormhole, right?"

"How did you know?" Jim replied.

"That wormhole has been the source of a lot of the Federation's troubles of late, with the Dominion and all, but it would be an honor to escort you to the system."

"Aren't you ordered to stay here?" Jim asked with a smile.

Entebbe frowned.

"Frankly sir, they've forgotten all about us with you being here and all and they're too busy trying to figure out what to do than worry about a science vessel. If it's all the same to you, I want to join you on your mission." Entebbe replied with a emphatic nod.

"Captain, it would be an honor, I just hope you know what you're doing." Jim replied.

"Jim, what in the hell is at Bajor?" Wefud asked in exasperation.

Jim smiled for a moment.

"Hope."


	17. Chapter 17

Darth Marek stood at the head of the large conference table. Seated around the table were the captains of his fleet. 26 seats were filled, one was empty, the Captain of the Izman had been lost during their engagements with the Borg. The Star Destroyer captains sat together, nearest the head of the table, where Admiral Daala sat holding court. Commander Kratas sat to her immediate right and to her left sat Captain Drayson, who was eyeing Kratas with barely restrained anger. Kratas shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny, deciding that perhaps his little joke at Drayson's expense had not been such a good idea at all.

"I will not lie to you, aside from the fact that I am sure that you have already found out the truth from your eyes in ears here on the Iron Fist. We are far from home and out of our time." Daala began.

Some of the captains exchanged furtive glances.

"Nevertheless we are Imperial officers and we will act accordingly. Now is not the time to let discipline slip." Daala warned.

"Admiral, if I may." A woman's voice spoke up. Daala nodded.

"Captain Zenah?"

Zenah, captain of the Relentless, was the only female captain in the entire room, she was tall and lean, her dark eyes were always calm and cautious. She never spoke loudly, never tried to stand out from the crowd of commanders. Many that had served with her compared her to one of the great cats. She seemed quiet and lazy, but when the hunt was on she was a fury. Zenah had come to accept the fact that she would not ascend much higher in the ranks, one of the few female star destroyer captains in the Empire, she was resigned to never commanding a fleet or ascending to Admiral. However, she was a consummate professional officer and she absolutely refused to ply her charms to get ahead.

She had protected her and nurtured her on her rise up the ranks. She owed her much and would, as any other officer here, gladly lay down her life for the Admiral. As for the black clad boy that stood behind Daala…he was another matter altogether.

"If it is true that we have been flung 3,000 years into our future and far away from home, is there a point to this exercise of obtaining data from the Federation regarding wormholes and the like? Why not simply conquer this entire galaxy? The natives here are ridiculously primitive, we could destroy their assembled fleets in several engagements, and have a new empire to call our own."

Several of the captains nodded their heads in agreement. Daala frowned.

"Let me answer that question. The Emperor's last message was an order to return as soon as possible so that we could join in a final battle that would destroy the Rebellion. I intend to follow my master's orders to the letter as should you all if you are loyal Imperial Officers." Marek replied sternly, eyeing each commander in turn.

Some of the commanders grumbled, not taking kindly to the veiled insult.

"I was merely pointing out a possibility."

"There will be time for conquest soon enough. But Lord Marek is correct. We must find a way back home. The probe droids we have dispatched in the last few days have begun transmitting. This galaxy, while large and open for conquest, is lacking in some very necessary materials for our technology to continue to thrive. Luckily, Tibanna gas is rather abundant here, a byproduct of mining one of their most precious resources, a crystal called Dilithium, so our weapons systems will remain fueled, but there seems to be no raw materials for us to build more dura-armor. Neutronium forges are no where to be found. This will makes thing harder for us as time goes on. The technological base of our foes is such that we will spend decades trying to bring it up to a standard that we can be comfortable about."

"First thing to go are those damned warp cores." Drayson spat. "Did you know that those things are prone to explode for any reason? The Federation ship I captured very nearly exploded before we could secure her and my technicians were forced to baby sit the damned thing until we got here and finally shut it down." Drayson complained, shoving a pen away from him to show his disgust.

"We ran across a similar problem when we fired the superlaser, their reactor system on the entire continent started exploding." Kratas added then instantly kicked himself as Drayson openly glared at him from across the table. He just HAD to bring up the sorest point of all…Drayson had missed the firing of the superlaser.

"In the end, we will eventually degrade down to their level, our systems will run down, our spare parts will run dry and we will have to start making due with what technology is readily available." Daala added thoughtfully.

"By the Emperor I will certainly not serve on a vessel that is essentially a flying bomb!" Drayson exclaimed.

"I think we are all in agreement with Captain Drayson." Captain Pofed added. He was the commander of the Executioner and a life long friend of Drayson's. They went to the academy together, served on the same ships and now they captained vessels in the same fleet. He was the second part of the triumvirate as many commanders in the fleet dubbed them. The three finest Star Destroyers in the fleet, given the duty of always taking the lead in battle.

"Our greatest concern becomes how then do we make for home? I do not relish hyperspacing for three thousand years and arriving six thousand years out of time." Captain Pong added in a soft whisper. He was the third leg of the triumvirate. Commander of the Star Destroyer Inexorable, he never spoke above a low whisper, some said that it was because of an old war wound inflicted by rebels, others said he simply did it for dramatic effect. If labels could be applied to these three capable commanders, Pong was the thinker.

"And I do believe that we have an answer to that problem." Marek replied, waving someone in. Two stormtroopers escorted in Admiral T'Vok and Mara Jade. The stormtroopers snapped to attention and stood by the doors. T'Vok strode up to the table without fear and stood at attention, letting the assembled Imperial commanders stare at him for a long moment. He did not flinch from the attention, only noting a slight ripple of unease form some of them as they recognized that he was not human.

"Commanders, I present to you Admiral T'Vok of the Romulan Star Empire. He is the liaison of the Romulan government and I have just appointed him overall commander of all Romulan armed forces."

T'Vok nodded to the assembled humans.

"I am here to serve." he replied evenly. The shame of the defeat was still sending ripples through Command, hundreds of officers had committed suicide over the last two days. T'Vok was trying to stop the flood of such brash actions. He believed in the superiority of the Romulan people and culture, now this Empire had arrived out of nowhere and taken from them that pride and sense of purpose and destiny. But T'Vok would not allow them to take his own personal pride. He could bend but he would not break.

"Admiral, please tell us what you told me."

"There is a race that can help you in your quest for a wormhole back to your world."

"Oh? I thought the Federation was our best chance at that." Drayson replied wanly.

"They are part of the Federation and they would be the ones the Federation would turn to if they were confronted with the same question." Some of the commanders were leaning in, listening more closely.

"They are a race of scientists, dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. They are the Federation's scientist's caste if you wish to look at it that way."

"Odd, our current review of Federation records from the Thunderchild's computer core does not indicate a caste system." Kratas interjected.

"The Federation likes to delude itself into thinking that it is something more than what it actually is, a benign dictatorship that classifies its citizens by the skills they seem to gravitate to. Humans are the warriors of the Federation for example."

"So, you see, we have a resource to tap. Imagine an entire world of scientists, dedicated to one goal, finding a way back to the Empire." Marek declared.

"When do we begin?" Drayson replied with a wolfish grin after a moment of silence from the assembled commanders.

Marek glanced down at Drayson and smiled in return.

"Captain Drayson, I have decided to give you the honor of leading the attack that brings this world under our domination." Drayson nodded to Marek, flashing Kratas a smile.

"You and Captain Pofed will lead the attack on the planet, I will give you all the ground troops you need. There is one major caveat."

"My Lord?"

"I want civilian casualties kept to an absolute minimum. I want the planet taken relatively intact, you are not authorized for orbital strikes against any facilities that are scientifically orientated, only military structures may be destroyed with impunity."

There was a shadow of disappointment on Drayson's face that was barely perceptible unless one was looking closely before he nodded in agreement.

"Of course, my lord."

"If I may ask, where will the rest of the fleet be while Drayson is covering himself in glory?" Zenah asked pointedly.

"We will be otherwise occupied, Captain. In reference to this, I want all commands to run battle readiness drills until further notice." Daala answered. The commanders exchanged knowing glances and Drayson started to look suspicious.

"You do realize of course, My lord that standard Imperial protocol calls for three Star destroyers to be deployed for maximum effect during planetary assault?" Pofed asked casually.

"Indeed, I am well aware of standard Imperial policy, which is why I am giving you extra assets to assist you in the operations." Marek replied coolly.

Drayson looked up in interest.

"The Romulan fleet is going to make its first appearance as our allies in battle. The Romulans are familiar with the target area and the people so they will provide on site intelligence and advice. Their ships will also help plug any gaps that an extra Star Destroyer would have done in their stead."

Drayson frowned slightly.

"I'm going on a planetary assault mission with provincial forces." He muttered to Pofed who nodded slowly and eyed T'Vok disdainfully.

"How well do you know the target system?" Drayson asked sharply.

"It has been the focus of many of our missions in the past. It will be a homecoming of sorts for us all."

Drayson nodded slowly.

"I am glad to see we are all in agreement." Daala cut in, giving Drayson a measured glance. Drayson took the hint and quieted down.

Drayson was a good commander, without a doubt her finest warrior, but he had the political and diplomatic sense of a stone. Drayson was like the family's favorite guard dog, ready to attack and pounce but knew much of nothing else. Daala still loved him like a son, there is no one else that she trusted more to guard her flank during a crisis, which was why she was unhappy with Marek's choice of Drayson for the assault. The other mission was far more dangerous to the entire fleet and she would have been far more at ease knowing that the Adjudicator would be in front guarding the fleet as it always had.

"We shall begin briefing on the planetary assault mission, pay close attention admiral T'Vor, your fleet will be supporting Drayson and Drayson does not hesitate to wade into battle, he will need to be certain that you and your men know their part." Daala announced. Drayson nodded to himself. Daala always watched out for him, knew his concerns. Daala was letting him know in her far more diplomatic way that she agreed that Drayson should not be attacking with a provincial fleet guarding his flank. But she was an Imperial officer and she did as he was told.

T'Vor nodded slowly, fighting the urge to scream at this human that he had led entire Romulan fleets into battle, how dare she treat him like a raw conscript. But he held in his anger, he lit it simmer and he watched, because in the end, there would be a final resolution to a question that had troubled his people for centuries.

Marek held out his hand and a hologram sprang up on the table. The commanders all focused on the yellow arid world.

"Commanders of the Empire, I present to you our new target. The Federation world: Vulcan." Marek declared.


	18. Chapter 18

The planetary defense network of Vulcan did not realize that they were under attack until the long range subspace relay was destroyed by a quick salvo from the Adjudicator as it flashed out of hyperspace, followed closely by the Executioner. The two Star Destroyers raced to Vulcan not stopping or slowing down at all.

The planet loomed ahead as well as the small defensive fleet that had been stationed there since the end of the Dominion war. A collection of a dozen starships were now facing the Star Destroyers.

"Status?" Drayson snapped as he stood facing the view port, hands clasped behind his back.

"We are receiving hails from the planet and the fleet in orbit."

"Let them eat static. Close in on the planet, tell the Executioner to begin the turn now, we will meet in high orbit and squeeze that fleet between us."

"Aye captain."

The planet loomed closer, the starships standing out now like bright stars. Targeting data was generated on each ship and Drayson grinned with satisfaction as he caught sight of the Executioner rapidly swinging in on the other side of the fleet. The starships began to scramble into a tight defensive position. Drayson shook his head.

"Fools." He hissed.

"Federation fleet is giving us one last chance before they are forced to open fire." The communications officer reported, a slight tremor in his voice, as if he were stifling a laugh.

Drayson smiled viciously.

"Let's not keep them waiting, open fire."

The Adjudicator coasted in close to the wall of Federation starships and suddenly a storm of green turbolaser fire erupted from her hull, followed seconds later by a devastating salvo from the Executioner.

Starships were exploding in rapid succession as their shields were instantly overwhelmed by the massive volleys, many of their captains unable to give a single order before the ships were torn completely apart. The defensive wall suddenly broke as the surviving starships pealed away from each other, streams of angry red phaser fire and photon torpedoes exploding out at the Star Destroyers.

Drayson sneered at the explosive display on his shields.

"Now they break formation?" He turned to his weapons pit. They all had looks of barely restrained joy on their faces. Drayson's aggressive nature was contagious and his crew soon shared his warlike spirit.

"Teach them what it means to oppose the Empire, boys."

"Aye captain." They replied eagerly.

"Executioner reports weapons fire from the surface, it is light and intermittent. Looks like some form of torpedo launchers."

"Tell Captain Pofed to begin orbital bombardment of defensive facilities."

"Acknowledged."

Drayson turned back to the view port in time to watch one of the starships break apart, one nacelle blasted off by a turbolaser strike, another nacelle ripped away by a flack burst from his heavy turbolasers then one last blast dead center destroyed the ship, all shots in rapid succession.

"Status of Federation defensive fleet?"

"Three starships remain, one is badly damaged and limping away, and the other two are breaking away trying to engage their warp drives."

"Keep flak fire on the fleet, it should keep them from going to warp, deploy the 14th squadron to finish them. Prepare to enter orbit and assist Executioner in the bombardment."

"Sir! Picking up transmission from provincial forces, eight starships have just come out of warp on the far side of Vulcan. They are using the planet's sensor shadow to close with us undetected."

Drayson nodded.

"Perhaps they are not completely incompetent. It matters not. Tell our allies to deal with those starships. Communications send a transmission to Vulcan."

"Ready sir."

Drayson stood imperiously, hands clasped behind his back.

"People of the planet Vulcan, you are currently under attack by forces of the Galactic Empire. In the name of the Emperor, stand down and surrender or we will commence general bombardment of your civilian population centers. Your Federation security forces have proven completely impotent against our might. Resistance will only cause millions of deaths, surrender insures survival." T'Vok had stressed that any communications with the Vulcans should lay things out logically. Their entire society seemed to be devoted to logic. What did one expect from scientists?

"You have two minutes to comply or the bombardment begins with your capital city and continues outward until the crust of your planet is ripped apart underneath your feet. Feel free to scan the ships in orbit and you will see that we have more than enough power to deliver on this threat. The time begins running as soon as this transmission is over." Drayson nodded to his communications officer and the holoimager switched off.

"We're being scanned, sir."

"Good."

"Sir, I am forced to remind you that Lord Marek was extremely clear that no attack on population or civilian facilities was authorized." His XO said lowly. Drayson nodded.

"I know, but they don't know that, Commander. If they truly honor logic they will see that they have absolutely no choice. Logical people are not suicidal."

"Sir, provincial forces are signaling that they are engaging Federation starships."

"Excellent, let's see what they can do."

Eight starships were quickly racing along Vulcan, closing rapidly with the invaders.

"This is Captain Helando, divert all power to weapons and prepare to deliver and alpha strike to the lead starship. Maybe we can knock out their shields if we catch them by surprise. Follow my lead and focus our fire on the same target. It may be our only hope in taking them down."

As the starships crossed the terminator into day a dozen enormous green warbirds shimmered into view surrounding the Federation ships.

They did not wait, the warbirds unleashed a withering barrage of fire and the Federation starships broke formation, most badly damaged, venting plasma and debris. The return fire was precise and powerful. Several warbirds were forced out of position, one was slowly plummeting down to the planet, power systems destroyed.

"Concentrate your fire on that Akira, Warclaw and Steelwing drop back and cut off the Federation avenue of escape." T'Vok ordered calmly as he deployed his fleet to counter the Federation attack. He had hoped to have struck a more decisive blow with their first salvo, but unfortunately that was not the case. Federation starships were becoming far more resilient, the D'Derix class warbirds were an aging design. Unfortunately, the Romulan Empire simply lacked the resources to replace or refit the fleet. They had nearly bankrupted themselves building the massive warbird fleet. The praetor who created this fleet had been obsessed with creating the largest ships and largest fleet in the galaxy. He had succeeded but it had crippled the empire for more than a generation.

He secretly hoped that one day, despite their shame, this Empire may pull them out of the slow decay they had suffered for so long. But they would have to be taught that Romulans were not just provincials.

One of the starships exploded as the fleet started to find its range. Several torpedoes exploded on his forward screens, rocking the ship. T'Vok held onto his command chair.

"I want this battle over, now!" He spat.

"Calling in reinforcements." His XO snapped and nodded to the communications officer. Several more warbirds declaoked further out and started immediately firing into the center of the firefight.

Soon enough, the Federation ships were reduced to debris and plasma. One starship limped along, a nacelle destroyed and a massive hole in its primary hull.

"Should we destroy it?" His XO asked.

T'Vok stared at the maimed starship. He briefly considered destroying the vessel, he had the seen the horrors inflicted on the captured starship crew back on Romulas. It would be a mercy. But he also decided that it would gain his fleet a little more respect if they could provide more sources of information for the empire.

"Finish off the engines and board her. I want to present Captain Drayson with some prisoners."

"Yes, Admiral."

To have come to this….proving to another captain that his fleet and people were worthy allies. Why did he lie to himself? We are nothing more than glorified slaves.

"Time is up in ten seconds, captain."

"Are they going to call our bluff?" His XO asked.

"If they decide to, then we'll have to do this the hard way. Are the assault transports loaded and ready?"

"Yes captain."

"Captain, transmission from the planet's surface."

"Go ahead."

"This is Jaren of Vulcan. Your weapons are indeed powerful enough to do as you threaten, our defensive fleet has been destroyed in an unprecedented and unwarranted act of violence." "Just get to the point." Drayson muttered to himself. "We therefore see no other logical alternative than to surrender in order to avoid genocidal actions on your part. We are standing down and switching off all defensive systems. However, I do have one concern."

Drayson arched an eyebrow. He nodded to his communications officer who opened a channel.

"This is Captain Drayson, please relate this concern, and be quick about it. If you are trying to buy time for those eight starships to round your planet be advised that our provincial forces have dealt with them." Tarsi replied curtly.

"Captain Drayson, we are well aware of the Romulan treachery in this action, however my concern is more of a long term one. Considering that your society obviously has no care about civilian populations and the casualties your actions may cause we are concerned that our population will suffer horribly when Starfleet counterattacks begin. You must realize that this action will be considered an act of war by the United Federation of Planets and they will react accordingly."

"I am aware of the possibility of counterattack and in fact welcome the chance to vaporize more of your valiant Starfleet." Drayson replied coldly.

There was a brief pause on the other end of the line as if the response had been unexpected.

"The question then turns to retaliation."

"Ah, you are concerned that we will retaliate against your population should the Federation attack?"

"Correct."

"Do not be concerned, Jaren, once an enemy system has surrendered to the Empire we consider you part of our territory. Your people and world will be protected by the Imperial fleet from now on. And I assure you, we will do a far better job than your ineffectual Starfleet." Drayson replied.

"I see. Then there is nothing else to discuss. Vulcan surrenders to your forces." Jaren replied coolly. There was no sense of emotion in his inflection. Perhaps the Romulans had not been exaggerating when they said the Vulcans had abandoned emotion in lieu of logic.

"Excellent. Prepare to receive our forces which will commence landing operations immediately. We will have a list of scientists and mathematicians, your world's finest I believe. They are to report to your largest science facility for a special project that is to commence immediately. Inform your citizens to go on with their lives as they have before, the only thing that will change for now are the flags fluttering overhead, otherwise you are now a protectorate of the Galactic Empire."

"It shall be done. Jaren out."

Drayson stood quietly for a moment, head bowed in thought.

"Sir?"

"Victory, my friend, a bloodless one at that. An entire world taken, our cause advances and we are one step closer to being home."

"Then why do you look so glum?" His XO asked.

Drayson scowled.

"There is no challenge. We slaughtered them like children. I've had better fights against half starved rebels then against this "Starfleet"." He spat the word like venom. He turned and looked out the view port at the world he had just won for the Empire.

"Is there no one in this galaxy that can challenge me?"


	19. Chapter 19

"Captain Jim of the Enterprise, that's correct, NCC 1701, no E or any other letter in the alphabet. I am requesting permission to enter the wormhole immediately." Jim replied to the skeptical communications officer of Deep Space Nine.  
"Jim, quite frankly, that HAS to be the ugliest space station I have ever seen." Wefud muttered. "I don't know, kind of looks like K-7 don't you think?" Jim needled.  
"You only say that because we were just there a little while ago, I swear, we're still finding those little fur balls in the strangest places." Wefud replied.

The screen shimmered again and a beautiful young woman was on the screen, she was short, short black hair, and spots running all the way from her head down her neck. "This is Ezri Dax of Deep Space Nine. I was informed that you're claiming to be Captain Jim. That museum piece of a starship is a nice….touch." Her voice trailed off as she focused on Jim's face. Wefud grinned smugly. "What in the world is going on? What are you doing here? Sir." She added hastily.  
"Well, why I'm here is a question that we're still trying to answer, what I want to do now, is enter the wormhole." Jim replied.

People were starting to crowd around Ezri, staring over her at the screen. Some were pointing and whispering loudly. Jim took it all in stride. "A guy could get used to that." Wefud whispered. Jim shot him an annoyed glare. Ezri snapped her head around. "Do you MIND?" The crowd very reluctantly began to disperse. "Sir, entry to the wormhole is restricted by order of the Federation counsel. The wormhole leads to the Gamma quadrant and Dominion space. We just had a rather bloody war against them and we don't want to do anything that could provoke them again. Traffic is restricted to sanctioned scientific missions or errands of mercy."

Jim nods. "I understand that, Lieutenant Dax, but this is an errand of mercy in many ways. It seems that the Federation has been attacked by an unknown alien menace. I have been in contact with certain parties that have informed me that some answers to this alien menace lies within the wormhole. I don't have any intentions of passing through the wormhole and entering contested space." Jim replied calmly but flashed his infamous smile. Wefud fought the urge to roll his eyes. She blinked and it seemed like she was blushing. "Sir, I have no knowledge of these events, but I am under strict orders."

She paused as if just realizing something. "Sir, did you say that you were contacted by someone?" "That's correct," Jim leaned forward as it dawned on him as well. Sisko had been in command of this very station. "Someone whom you might have known." "Benjamin?" She whispered. Jim nodded. Ezri grinned. "I knew it!"  
She glanced around, suddenly aware that she had said it too loudly. She turned back to the screen. "I know I'm not supposed to do this, thankfully Captain Benteen is down on Bajor doing a survey, so I'm going to turn a blind eye captain, but whatever you do, make it quick." Jim nodded. "I understand completely, Lieutenant. And thank you so much." "My pleasure captain. Maybe after all this excitement is over you can come aboard and tell us a story or two over drinks."  
"Much obliged, I think I'll have to take you up on that offer." Jim replied with a boyish smile. Wefud grumbled something under his breath.

Suddenly there was commotion behind Ezri and communications officer hurried down to Ezri, handing her a report and whispering in her ear. Ezri frowned.  
"Never rains but it pours." Wefud whispered. "Don't you have sick people to attend to?" Jim stage whispered in return. Wefud frowned. "Uh, Captain, I have direct orders from Starfleet command to detain the Enterprise and the science vessel Sagan. It seems that you left Starbase 109 without permission of Commodore Chang. He has demanded that you be detained to halt any more contamination of the timeline. Three starships will be here in six hours to escort you back to Starbase 109."

"Three? They have three starships to bring me back but none to try and rescue Captain Saben?" Jim replied hotly.  
"These are my orders, sir. I'm sorry. I'm sending the runabouts Danube and Rhine to escort you into docking bay 12. There you will hold until the starships arrive." "Two small shuttle craft type vessels approaching." Spock reported evenly. "Understood, lieutenant Dax. I guess we'll have that drink a lot sooner than I thought." He replied coolly. "I'm sorry sir." She replied hesitantly and switched off the channel. Jim turned to Benera. "Get the captain of the Sagan, tight beam." "Aye Aye sir."

"Time until those runabouts get here?" "They will be in range in two minutes." Jim turned to face the screen as Captain Entebbe appeared. "The word captain?" Entebbe asked. "The word is no, I am therefore going anyway." He replied. "We'll be right behind you, sir." Entebbe replied grimly. "Captain, I can't ask you to take this risk with me." "Sir, with all due respect, we've been with you from the beginning and we're not going to turn back now. The Federation is under attack and it seems like you and I are the only ones who see the threat clearly." Entebbe replied sternly.  
Jim nodded slowly. "Well, I guess then there's no talking you out of it, make for the wormhole, full impulse."  
"Acknowledged, Captain." Entebbe replied. The Enterprise and the Sagan rotated and began advancing on the wormhole. "Sir, we're receiving frantic hails from both the runabouts and DS9. They're demanding that we stand down." "We didn't hear that, Benera, too much interference." "Yes sir." She answered with a small smile.

"Runabouts closing fast…they're arming weapons." Jim nodded but his face remained impassive as he watched the spot where the wormhole lay loom on screen. "We are 20 seconds from the wormhole." Wefud reported. "Runabouts are 10 seconds from interception." Tock reported. The bridge was silent as they continued forward. "Shields?" Chim asked lowly. "No, Mr. Chim let's make those boys have to fire on an unshielded vessel." Jim responded. "Runabouts sending one last warning, captain." Jim nodded. "5 seconds to wormhole." "Torpedoes inbound!" Tock warned. The bridge crew braced themselves, but they passed several meters between the Sagan and the Enterprise and exploded. The vessels shook but there was no damage. "Warning shots." Wefud surmised. "We are at the wormhole's event horizon." The screen flashed, nearly blinding the bridge crew as the wormhole opened. The Enterprise and the Sagan plunged into the wormhole and as quickly as it exploded open it flashed close leaving the two runabouts in pursuit to coast to a stop.

Ezri rested her head on one hand and sighed heavily. "This is going to be a long day." She muttered. 


	20. Chapter 20

""Preparing to exit hyperspace."

"Concentrate all fire ahead of as soon as we emerge from hyperspace." Daala ordered.

"The last data transmission we received from the probe droid indicated a fleet of at least 1,000 cubes." Kratas stated and looked out at the bridge pits. The men were moving about, doing their duty with the cool calm professionalism of Imperial officers. But he could feel the tension in the air. The men were not happy about this mission. Many felt that they had escaped the Borg just when things were going to get difficult, and now Marek was ordering the fleet right into the center of an enormous Borg fleet.

"The fleet will be far larger when we arrive." Marek replied coolly, he had that far away look in his eyes again. Daala had grown to count on Marek's intuition in battle more than she cared to admit. But the Sith Lord had not been wrong yet.

"Hyperspace emergence in 10 seconds."

"All weapons standing by."

"I would feel better if Drayson were leading this charge." Kratas whispered to Daala. Usually the Adjudicator, Executioner and Inexorable were always in front, in tight formation. This time the Inexorable and Relentless were leading in, the other Star destroyers were flanking as per Daala's latest deployment.

"Belladonna and the Relentless will not disappoint." Daala replied.

The blue tunnel that was hyperspace suddenly flashed and disappeared replaced by a sea of Borg cubes. The Imperial fleet jumped out and fired continuously. Borg cubes were vaporizing in their path.

"Launch all bombers and fighter escorts, concentrate all fire forward, I want to clear our path. Have the flankers push out, don't let them encircle us." Daala ordered calmly, ignoring the awesome number of Borg cubes, various shapes and sizes around them firing.

"Launching."

"M'am, I'm picking up an enormous energy reading to starboard." A tactical officer warned.

"Let me see." Daala strode down to the pit and looked. There was an energy spike the likes of which she had not seen before in the last Borg engagement.

"Prepare the superlaser, Admiral." Marek ordered.

"My Lord?"

"This enemy vessel must be destroyed quickly." Marek replied grimly.

"There it is!" Kratas pointed at a massive cube that was hurtling towards them. A bright green flash lashed out and struck the Relentless. The Relentless was covered in bright green thrashing tendrils of plasma. The Supercube cast a shadow over the Star Destroyer, several tractor beams lashed out and pulled the Star Destroyer closer.

"Captain Zenah reports massive energy impacting on all screens, shields are buckling." The communications officer squinted as if trying to hear something over a loud din. He looked up at Daala. "There are reports of boarders appearing all throughout the ship."

"Damn it all, reveal the super-laser!" Daala snapped.

"Revealing laser. Main energizers charging to capacity."

Outside the Iron Fist hordes of TIE Defenders were streaking through the cubes, unleashing wave after wave of proton torpedoes. Their TIE escorts exchanged fire with the smaller scout spheres. The torpedoes slammed through the armored hulls of the cubes, blasting gaping holes in the Borg ships.

The Borg responded with fusillades of plasma torpedoes which exploded with devastating effect on the unshielded Imperial fighters. Some of the more daring pilots actually flew through the massive gashes in the enemy cubes, using them as cover from the torpedoes.

The Inexorable moved in close and concentrated its broadsides on the main weapon emplacement on the Supercube, destroying it in an explosion that would have destroyed an entire cube. As the Inexorable passed by, firing another broadside, the bridge officers noted the holes in the hull quickly covered with new wiring and plating. The strategic cube was regenerating its damage at an alarming rate.

"They're what?" Daala exclaimed.

"The Borg cube is regenerating according to the Inexorable."

"Status on the Superlaser?"

"Fully charged and ready to fire."

"Aim at the Borg cube, dead center."

"The Relentless?" Kratas warned.

Daala realized that the Star Destroyer was dangerously close to the Supercube.

"What is the status of her shields?" Daala snapped as twelve cubes suddenly flashed by, unloading on the forward bow of the Iron Fist. They realized what the weapon was. She had very little time.

"Admiral, there is not time for this, the Borg are aware." Marek warned, his voice had a tension that she had not heard before.

"They're failing, Admiral." Kratas replied darkly.

"Tell Zenah to divert all power to shields and brace herself." She turned to the weapons bay. "Fire the super laser now!"

As she turned back to the view port she suddenly realized why Marek had been so adamant about firing. The entire Borg fleet was now screaming towards them, all weapons blazing. They were ignoring the rest of her fleet and the Iron Fist was under a massive attack.

"Commence Primary Ignition." Her weapons officer announced.

A hundred Borg tactical cubes snapped by and unloaded a barrage of torpedoes and beam weapons, all focused on one point, right at the bridge.

"Bridge deflectors have failed…reestablishing." Kratas reported.

"Too late, it seems we have boarders." Daala hissed as a dozen Borg drones appeared in wispy columns of emerald light.

"Admiral look out!" Kratas shouted as one of the half machine monstrosities reached out for Daala. Daala was roughly shoved out of the way and landed flat on her back. She looked up and heard a snap hiss before she saw the crimson blade flash around and heard a sizzle of electronics and flesh being cut in two.

Daala pulled herself up by the railing on the command deck and managed to look up just in time to see the superlaser fire. A green glow suffused the nose of the Iron Fist a split second before a solid green bolt of energy lanced forth and touched the Supercube dead center. There was no pause, no brief flash of a shield effect as she had seen from her other ship's heavy weapons, the enormous cube simply evaporated into a ring of incandescent fire, a wave of debris and hot gasses carried on the shockwave like flotsam on a tsunami.

She watched the Relentless get caught in the shockwave of debris and get tossed to the side like a toy. She fervently willed that the ship not explode and watched with breath held as the Relentless toppled end over end then disappear in a cloud of plasma and got gasses.

She turned around and saw a squad of stormtroopers rush in, weapons at the ready. But it was the sight of Lord Marek in action which froze her in place. The Sith lord was moving among the Borg like a panther, his crimson lightsabers humming menacingly the Borg clumsily circled him. One raised an arm with a strange box like attachment at the end. It fired a green ball of plasma at Marek.

Marek pivoted on his left foot and swung the blade round, deflecting the shot right at another Borg. It stopped suddenly and simply slumped down to the floor. Marek continued his move and the blade flashed through the midsection of the Borg that fired. The Borg was cut right in half. Its torso fell to the floor and it looked dumbly up at the legs which were still moving. Marek held his hand up in a waiting gesture to the stormtroopers. The Borg advanced.

Marek smiled and there was a feral quality to it as he charged and whipped the blades around him as his charge turned into a spin. Four more Borg were summarily decapitated. Two Borg remained. Marek came out of his spin and waited, saber in a high guard position.

Daala noted Mara Jade for the first time. She had been on the bridge the whole time but as usual she had blended in, keeping out of the spotlight. Now there was a tortured expression on her face. She wanted very badly to be doing the fighting, to protect her Sith Lord charge but Daala slowly wondered just what the young woman could protect Marek from. He was obviously in no danger and Daala wondered if anything could threaten the young Sith Lord.

"Debris field clearing up." Kratas noted, tearing himself from the fight with a valiant effort.

Daala nodded to herself and stood fully erect, hating that she had to turn his back on the fight, but she had a fleet to lead.

"Have all Bomber squadrons deploy the seismic charges I ordered loaded. Set for, " Daala glanced down at the navigational display. "124 mark 80, remote detonate, give the Iron Fist remote command." She ordered hoarsely.

"Aye sir." Kratas snapped and nodded to the squadron commander.

The remaining TIE bombers suddenly spun round and fired small projectiles away from the Borg fleet. They rocketed into position and remained in a tight formation. The bombers then began to unload the rest of their ordinance into the remaining Borg ships.

"Any sign of the Relentless?" Daala quietly asked Kratas.

"Still no sign, but there's an awful lot of debris out there." Kratas replied hopefully.

She briefly wondered if Zenah and her ship had been lost to the Borg, if so, she swore that the fleet would wreck havoc on these monstrosities.

"I want helm control back, now!" Zenah shouted over the din of blaster fire. Her XO pressed a blaster pistol into her hand as he moved down control pits on the command deck. She accepted it and promptly holstered it. A stormtrooper stumbled backwards, struck by a Borg plasma weapon. He fell at her feet and stopped moving.

Zenah did not bother to turn around. She had a ship to get under control. The view port was covered in debris, Borg bodies and Emperor knew what else. She was as blind as a mynock. A casual look around the command pits revealed a cacophony of warning lights and alarms all going off simultaneously.

"Ship status?" she snapped. Her XO was on the other side of the command deck and he rushed back over after consulting with a few technicians. Behind her she heard the sound of a Borg going down hard as more storm troopers flooded onto the bridge, firing their weapons.

"We still do not have helm control. Borg boarders have scrambled all circuits between here and engineering in their attempts to assimilate the ship. We have lost emergency power in some of the lower decks and the hangar bay reports that a massive piece of debris is lodged in the hangar deck, disrupting the force fields there."

"What about weapons and shields?"

"Weapons are still functioning, scattered reports indicate that they are still firing. The shield grid is online but little power is getting through the grid. Those damned Borg have scrambled everything on this ship." Her XO spat.

"Focus on the shields, while they are on standby power more of these things are getting through. Try to raise the fleet and inform them of our status, tell them we need assistance right away. Also, seal all bulkheads between here and engineering, I want to limit the mobility of these boarders and scramble every available trooper even if they are on sleep cycle. We have to keep the boarding parties contained."

"Last report indicated hundreds were on board." Her XO hissed.

"Every man fights for his ship, is that understood?"

"Yes Captain."

Another Borg was hurtled down into the command pit where a stormtrooper fired two more shots into it to make sure it was dead before rushing to halt a new party that just beamed in.

"And isolate all computer cores, reroute all controls to the bridge on my authority."

"Yes ma'am!"

She turned back to see three more Borg drones go down to concentrated fire from several stormtroopers. One walked over to her.

"Captain, we have them contained below decks but they are concentrating their boarding parties on the bridge and engineering. My men are telling me that there are at least three hundred in the engineering section alone."

"Suggestions?"

"We flood engineering with Syntex gas."

"It will kill everyone in engineering."

"It will kill all the Borg as well, Captain. Otherwise you're looking at gunfights all throughout the engineering sections and I am not confident we won't hit anything…explosive." the stormtrooper commander replied ominously.

She thought for a moment. Hundreds of engineers would be killed. Irreplaceable engineers in this primitive galaxy.

"I want your men to redouble their efforts, pull troopers off details where the Borg are contained behind blast doors and push them out of engineering. If the situation becomes critical then I will reconsider. I want my engineering section cleared, commander."

"Yes, Captain." He replied without hesitation and turned to follow her orders. She shook her head slowly. This was not going well at all.

"Pull the Strike wings back further, give those Borg cubes room to maneuver, I want them to take that avenue of escape." Daala ordered. She smiled in spite of the frustration. Her fleet were well trained razors. They were cutting into the Borg fleet now, the loss of the Supercube plus all other Borg vessels in the blast wake seemed to have thrown the Borg into confusion. She had to press her advantage now. The fleet knew this and they were instinctively cutting off all avenues of escape, but that is precisely what Daala did not want, and like overeager hunting dogs she had to pull on the leash.

"Ma'am, the Inexorable is offering to make a flanking maneuver to drive more cubes to the center, requesting bomber support."

"Have wings 39 and 54 move to support the Inexorable's attack." She paused as she looked at her fleet deployment on a tactical display. "Also have the Bombard and Bellicose slide into the center position, we don't want this to look too orchestrated."

"Aye Admiral."

She turned as he heard a strange sound, an electronic gurgling like a machine was being strangled. Lord Marek was holding the last surviving drone up by the neck, its arms had been severed. He was holding it nearly two feet off the ground with one hand and squeezing hard enough that even the Borg's normally pasty complexion was darkening.

"I know you can see me. I can feel your pitiful Collective looking through your eyes." Marek snarled triumphantly. He jerked the Borg's face closer to his. Its one good eye focused on him, the other, a strange antennae implant was slowly moving back and forth, no doubt providing the Borg with real time intelligence even now. The bridge had Borg cauterized body parts scattered throughout the command deck, a testament to Lord Marek's prowess.

"See the futility of your actions. We have taken down your mightiest warship with a single blast. There is no possibility of victory. You are outmatched, as machines you must realize this, you must see that there is no chance at victory. You have spent the last millennia making yourselves into the demons of this galaxy. Now we have come to bring order to the chaos. Do you see what I am trying to say?" Marek whispered as he squeezed harder. The drones face remained impassive but it was obvious now that it was dying, the organic eye was starting to flutter.

Marek pulled it very close and whispered.

"In your case, resistance is futile."

The drone's neck snapped audibly and it slumped in Marek's grip. He stared at it for a moment then tossed it aside in disgust. He strode over to Daala.

"Admiral, finish this battle now." He ordered sternly.

"Of course my lord." Daala bowed her head slightly and turned to Kratas. "Tell all wings to begin immediate attack, all weapons, all fighters, drive them."

"Yes Admiral."

"Commander Kratas! One of our fighter wings has spotted the Relentless. She engaged in combat with several cubes, they report thousands of drones cover her hull and are trying to assimilate her."

Kratas whirled to Daala.

"We are going to personally assist her, move us in, tell the rest of the fleet to go forward, push them. When they reach position zero inform me immediately." Daala ordered without waiting for him to speak.

"Yes Admiral."

The Iron Fist roared forward to assist the wounded Relentless as the rest of the Imperial fleet surged forward, blasting the Borg cubes that stood in their way. The cubes were moving sluggishly, some not firing at all. Swarms of bombers and fighters raced between the giant ships, blasting away at anything that was not Imperial.

Massive thermonuclear explosions rippled along the line of Borg ships. Hundreds were vaporized as the remaining Star Destroyers concentrated their heavy turbolaser batteries into one devastating salvo. This was the event that broke the Borg lines. Suddenly sluggish cubes began moving backwards accelerating away from the hungry Imperial fleet. The fleet quickly followed, relentlessly nipping at the Borg fleet, always driving them to the center.

"There she is!" Kratas exclaimed and pointed to the Relentless. She was covered in a writhing layer of Borg drones. There were numerous deep gouges in the heavy hull, some parts of the ship were exposed to the vacuum, it looked like a Borg sphere, or a large portion of it was jammed into the hangar bay. The bridge tower was covered in the remains of Borg cubes.

Daala shook her head sadly. The ship looked horrible.

"Receiving transmission from the Relentless."

"Put her through."

Captain Zenah appeared on the holotransmitter, she brushed back a stray lock of hair and stood at attention. Behind her a stormtrooper could be seen blasting away.

"Admiral Daala, Relentless reporting."

"Status, Captain?"

"We now have at least 400 Borg intruders on board, stormtrooper regiments are containing the boarders. Our control systems are overloaded, attempts by Borg drones to assimilate any open terminal has rendered much of our computer controls useless. We are attempting to reconfigure the system but it will take time. I have zero visibility and all sensors are out due to the shockwave and radiation from the blast."

"We are going to clean off your hull now captain. You have thousands of drones on your outer hull attempting to assimilate your ship from the outside. We are also loading two assault transports to board and assist your regiments in repelling boarders."

"Understood Admiral."

Daala turned away from the hologram.

"Set all turbolaser batteries to flak mode, minimum safe distance from the Relentless, let's clean those things off her."

"Aye ma'am."

"Admiral, assault transports 1025 and 1138 standing by."

"Send them in, looks like they'll have to do things the hard way with the Relentless' hangar bay out of commission." Daala said with a frown.

"Aye sir."

"Are you well?" Mara asked Marek as she suddenly appeared by his side. He was adjusting his gloves and was examining the scattered drones with a mixture of contempt and disgust.

"I'm fine, Mara. Look to cleaning up this mess." He replied absently. She nodded and snapped her fingers at a stormtrooper who hurried over.

"See that this mess is cleared for Lord Marek."

"Yes, ma'am."

She looked back at him but he had walked away from her and was standing on the far end of the command deck away from the others. She had watched him in action and she felt excited watching him cut his way through the Borg, there was a certain joy on her face which she had not seen before. His face had lightened for that brief moment and the storm clouds that always seemed gathered over his head parted revealing just how young he truly was.

"Admiral. Borg fleet now in position zero."

Daala smiled triumphantly and strode over to fire control.

"Activate the charges. Order all fleet ships to stand by."

The fire control officer nodded and flicked a line of switches that sent a signal that tripped the seismic charges sitting out in sector 124 mark 80, now known as position zero.

The surviving Borg cubes were now in a route, transferring all available power to the engines and preparing to engage transwarp engines. They detected the charges but not the danger.

Not until it was too late.

The charges detonated. For a moment there was nothing. Then a deep bass thrumming that signaled the detonation. Massive waves of explosive energy whipped out in two dimensional planes. The Borg cubes were sheared in half. The waves intersected at certain points, utterly vaporizing anything in their path. The retreating Borg armada happened to be in the center of the explosive waves.

Daala watched coldly as the cubes quickly became a field of scattered debris. Nothing was left. The Borg fleet was gone.

"Victory." Kratas breathed.

Daala nodded.

"Now, let us save the Relentless so we can be on our way." Daala ordered and continued watching the expanse of dead Borg ships.


	21. Chapter 21

pre style="word-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"Marek waited patiently in his meditation chamber as he heard the voices beyond. Mara was welcoming the newcomer in and he heard the sharp click of stormtrooper boots on the deck plates outside his door. He allowed his thoughts to roam free for while longer. He was in no hurry.

He followed the visions as they came. The Emperor had taught him that the Force would guide you were it wanted you to go, there was no fighting it, and to force the dark side to show you what you wished to see was utter folly. It would show you your own doom, or a false vision and you would be led into ruin.

"Lord Marek, as you requested, Admiral T'Vok has been brought to you via shuttle."

T'Vok knew that the distances they had been talking about, a warbird would take months if not years to reach this deep into the Delta quadrant. His trip by shuttle had been two hours.

"How can I be of service, my lord?" T'Vok asked softly.

Marek slowly descended down to his feet and strode towards Admiral T'Vok.

"Admiral, I have been reading with interest these intelligence reports from your Tal'Shiar."

T'Vok said nothing but walked with the Sith lord as he strode past T'Vok towards the back of his meditation chamber. Mara remained a respectful distance behind.

"I was particularly interested in Project Risen Phoenix."

"Risen Phoenix?" T'Vok repeated neutrally.

Marek smiled grimly to himself.

"You heard me Admiral. As I understand it, the project came about as a result of some rather fortuitous turn of events in battle against the Dominion near the end of your war with them. You recovered an artifact. A sample of their technology that they always found a way to destroy before any of your forces could get their hands on one."

"I am aware of the Project. During the last engagement against the Dominion, our forces managed to over run a Dominion held moon in the Cardasia home system. Our ground forces captured a fully functioning lab and we quickly disassembled it and brought it to Romulus."

"Ah, you dance around the issue, admiral." Marek replied wanly.

"Very well. It is a fully functional Dominion cloning tank. We have yet to decipher all of the technology and we were certainly not going to start cloning Jem'Hadar."

Marek stopped and turned. He stared into the admiral's eyes.

"I believe that we can decipher the technology of the cloning tanks. And we have a very good use for them."

T'Vok frowned.

"Do not be so sad, Admiral. The Romulans will be carried forth upon our victorious shoulders. Your people's place in the Empire's ultimate victory will not be forgotten. When the Federation and your enemies grovel at your feet, you will have us to thank."

"What is to be done then?" T'Vok asked. The very last secret they had was now revealed. His people had absolutely no weapons against them now. And what use could these people have with the cloning tanks?

"You will return and I will place you in charge of a new project. It will ensure our dominance forever in this galaxy. I have the utmost faith in you, admiral." Marek replied and motioned for the admiral to leave. Mara instantly appeared by the Admiral's side.

"Right this way, T'Vok." She instructed gently. T'Vok took one last look at Marek and followed Mara Jade out. She returned and stood passively by Marek's side.

"You know what must be done. Find the finest specimen among our stormtroopers. I want only the finest stock."

Mara nodded and a slow smile appeared on her face.

"I think I have precisely the one in mind, my lord."

"Oh?" He asked warily.

"He is hiding out in secret among the troopers assigned to this vessel. He is the commander of the Emperor's Personal Guard."

"Why wasn't I aware of this?" Marek asked hotly, turning on Mara. Mara took several quick steps backwards.

"My Lord, the Emperor deploys his guardsmen throughout the fleet on a regular basis. It is to keep their combat training fresh. The hands are aware of several in any fleet in case we require assistance from someone whose loyalty is above question. But you are a Sith Lord, the personal envoy of the Emperor himself. What need have you to know of the deployment of guardsmen?" She answered without hesitation.

Marek stared at her for a long moment, eyes peering into hers. She had no idea what he was doing, whether he could see into her mind as clearly as he saw into the others.

"Leave me. I have much to think upon." He replied curtly and motioned her away. She quickly left after bowing slightly. He watched her leave and stared at the door for a long moment. He turned away and strode deeper into the shadows.

Save that this time, they did not soothe him.

/pre 


	22. Chapter 22

*A few weeks later...* "They did this to an Imperial held world?" Marek asked darkly as he stood on the vast glassy plain of what used to be the largest city on Remus. Nothing remained, not a single building, no wreckage, no sign at all that this world had been inhabited for thousands of years and home to a thriving empire. The glassy plain stretched on for the entire planet, there was not a hill, mountain, nothing that deviated form the single flat monotonous vista. "Probes and sensors confirm that the entire planet is composed of this same glassy silicate all the way down to the core." Daala replied. They all wore environmental suits, the atmosphere of the planet had been burned away, exposing the world to the harshness of the void. "That would include all the dilithium deposits as well as other resources that Remus was providing us. It was the economic heart of the Romulan province." Kratas added shaking his head at the waste he saw around him. "Is that all you can say?!" T'Vok exclaimed, furious at the detached interest the Imperials were taking to a holocaust of epic proportions. Billions of Romulans had died this day. "Calm yourself, Admiral. This is not a time to act from emotion." Daala replied coolly. Marek stared down at the ground for a long moment. He had felt the disturbance in the Force nearly immediately when the action took place, the death of an entire world in the matter of instants. The ripples this action had sent throughout the Force had nearly stunned him in their intensity. "Tell me more about these Klingons, T'Vok." Marek asked quietly, eyes still focused on the ground beneath his feet. T'Vok took a moment to compose himself. His aide was at his side as usual, handed him a data pad that had a complete report from the home guard concerning the battle. The populace on Romulus had been kept in the dark regarding the loss of Remus. He did not know how they could break the news to his people. They had suffered so much in such a short amount of time, and the armed forces whose pride and joy it was to defend their great empire had proven completely incompetent in stopping the twin holocausts that had been visited upon them: The destruction of Romulus' greatest continent and cities, and the loss of Remus. "The Klingons were involved in the attack. Although numerous sources indicate that there were only scattered confirmed sightings of Klingon ships, we do know that the Klingons are fond of attacking and cloaking as soon as possible to confuse the enemy as to their numbers. The fact that the Federation ships were using cloaking devices further implicates the scum, they obviously shared cloaking technology or even outright gave them cloaking devices to under take this attack." T'Vok replied, his voice tight with anger. Marek could feel the anger raging within him and he was comforted by it. He continued listening, but his thoughts were also out in the void. There was another disturbance in the Force, it was close, very close. "This tactic is more like the Klingons, the Federation simply has no stomach for this kind of warfare." He added looking around in disgust at the smooth, lifeless plain. "They obviously have the technology for it." Daala replied. "What you fail to understand about the Federation is that they have the technology to do many things, but their insipid belief in their moral superiority would not allow them to use that technological edge to its fullest benefit." T'Vok commented. "Obviously that's not true in this case." Kratas replied dryly. "These Klingons, they are considered a warrior race?" Marek asked, his mind focusing on the disturbance. It was very close indeed. "If howling animals who stupidly board ships and assault planets armed with edged weapons is what you consider a warrior race, then yes, you can say that. Their culture is bent to war; subtlety and intelligence are beyond their understanding." T'Vok answered with some disdain. "You're people hate them?" "We have been enemies for nearly a century." T'Vok replied icily. "Excellent. Then it is time the Empire stretch forth its mighty hand and crush the warrior race of this galaxy for their participation in this direct attack on one of the Emperor's worlds." "But, Lord Marek, it was clear from our scans that the Federation fleet itself was directly responsible for the attack on Remus, the Klingons were only involved in the periphery of the battle. Vengeance must be sought against those that are directly responsible for this atrocity!" T'Vok protested. His aide nodded in agreement. Marek slowly turned his head to face T'Vok, his cool blue eyes bore into the old but proud Romulan admiral. "There will be vengeance against the Federation. I am no fool. I saw the reports for myself, but I have something special in mind for the Federation. For now, you will content yourselves with mastery over the Klingons." "What?" "Your fleet will assemble and be led on a general assault on Klingon space. You will engage every Klingon fleet that you encounter, until you arrive at the Klingon homeworld. When you arrive there, you will signal me for instructions." T'Vok was uncertain how to proceed. "Once the Klingons are conquered they will be placed under your direct control as a province of the Romulan empire as payment for their unwarranted aggression." T'Vok frowned. "And the Federation?" "Leave that to me." Marek smiled triumphantly as he finally located the source of the disturbance. "Admiral Daala, I want you to signal Captain Drayson, he and the Executioner will be pulled off duty on Vulcan and be given the assignment of conquering the Klingon empire. He will have all the resources of the Romulan provincial forces at his discretion." "Who will replace him on Vulcan?" "Deploy the Relentless and several support ships, including a wing of warbirds. Drayson will not be gone for long, I can assure you." Marek replied with a grin. "The Relentless is currently undergoing extensive repairs in the shipyards." Daala warned. "Admiral, I am well aware of our current tactical and strategic situation, the Relentless, though badly damaged is still a dire threat to anything but a full fledged Federation fleet." "What if they do decide to deploy a fleet in a counterstroke against Vulcan? It's what I would do after an attack such as this." Kratas interjected. Marek's smile broadened. "Captain Kratas, the Federation will be deploying many fleets in the coming days, but they will not be to retake Vulcan, it will be to protect itself against our assaults." "Then we will be moving against the Federation as well?" T'Vok pressed. "Indeed, Admiral. In fact, I want you to have all warbirds closest to your neutral zone to begin immediate offensive action against all Federation ships and bases. The Imperial fleet will be deploying soon thereafter." "Our goal?" Daala asked curiously. "There can be only one goal. But that will be revealed to you in time. For now I have a far more pressing question." "My Lord?" Daala asked after a moment of uncomfortable silence where the only sound was the air coming into their environmental suit's helmets. "Admiral T'Vok?" "Yes?" T'Vok replied. "How long have you had a Changleing as your aide?" Marek asked. T'Vok whipped around as his aide suddenly drew a disruptor and aimed at Marek. Daala cursed herself as she tried to draw her own sidearm, she should have ignored Marek's insistence that there was no need for stormtrooper escort on the surface. Even Mara Jade was moving a beat too slow, drawing her weapon and firing, the first shot missing the aide's head by less than a hand's breadth. She was cursing loudly as she fought against the natural clumsiness of the environmental suit's gloves. The aide sneered and fired two quick snap shots from the disruptor. Marek moved without anyone seeing him do so, between the blinks of an eye, there was snap hiss and one of his crimson lightsabers ignited deflecting one disruptor bolt into the ground next to him and then swung his blade in a flash of movement from his wrists, taking the next bolt and whipping it back at the aide. He screamed as the bolt sheared off his arm. The aide collapsed to the ground, clutching the stump of its gun arm. Mara was by the aide's side in the next moment and pointed her blaster at his head and began to pull the trigger. "Hold!" Marek barked and strode over to the stricken aide, whose wound was now oozing strangely, as flesh gave way to some odd golden liquid. Daala grimaced in disgust. T'Vok stared dumbfounded at the sight. "So, you thought you could blatantly hide among us, eh, shapeshifter?" He noted with contempt as he deactivated his lightsaber. The changeling did not look up, instead it was massaging the stump, the liquid gelatinous substance was slowly solidifying, but oxygen was clearly running out of the enormous tear, ice crystals forming on the clear shield of the helmet's face plate. "Struggle all you want but your treachery has been discovered. Your people have been oddly silent since our arrival. Considering you nearly brought this quadrant to its knees I was wondering when we would begin to see the Dominion." "For a solid, you have a firm grasp of strategy and tactics, but you are as flawed as all of your kind. You act from baser instincts which we have surpassed long ago. You come to impose order on this galaxy. Order? What do your people know of order?" The changeling laughed, looking up at Marek with unconcealed contempt. Marek smiled. "Death is the only penalty for spying on the Emperor's minions. However, if you tell me what I want to know I will make sure that you will live long enough to join the great link again." The changeling's face was difficult to gauge for emotion but there was no doubt that Marek's revelation of his knowledge of what was going through its mind disturbed it. "This cannot be, even the most powerful Betazed telepaths cannot pierce our mental discipline." "Beta Zed telepaths? I am no simple mind trickster. I am a Sith and the Dark side will not denied. Now, what say you? Your oxygen is running out and it looks as if you are having trouble with the lack of pressure here. How long before you boil away to nothing, I wonder." "I will tell you nothing, foul one. I have seen what you call order and it is nothing more than the application of force to deal with a problem. That is infantile and pathetic. Your weapons may be impressive but I have seen enough to know that you are far from home and lacking support here. The Federation surprised you here and my people are just waiting patiently for any weakness. We will not fold as easily as these fools." He replied hotly, jerking his head in T'Vok's direction. Marek stared intently at the changeling for a moment. The changeling returned the gaze without flinching. Marek suddenly pressed his lightsaber against the faceplate and there was a snap hiss. The changeling stiffened as the blade passed through its head and emerged on the other side. The body began to boil away, lumpy gelatinous golden liquid spilled out of the suit. "Burn it all. Leave no trace of the thing." Mara nodded and commenced to burn away the liquid with her blaster. Marek whirled and stalked over to Daala. T'Vok still shook his head in disbelief. "The Dominion has been spying on us since we arrived here. The changeling was alone, there were no others, to its knowledge nonetheless, but begin immediate screening of the population." He paused and a slow smile crept across his face. "And tell Drayson that he has to make a stop before proceeding on his invasion of Klingon space." "My Lord?" "His mission will be to collapse the wormhole at Bajor. Without it, our patient friends will indeed have to be patient because it will take decades for their warp drive to get them here." Marek said. 


	23. Chapter 23

Marek watched the fleet assembling and nodded to himself in satisfaction. This was the beginning of the end for the thorn in his side. The Federation had proven to be a more resilient foe than he could have imagined. Small, insignificant, a mere 150 member worlds with a Starfleet that could not challenge a single sector fleet of the Empire on paper. But they had just destroyed one of the Empire's sole supply bases in this miserable galaxy and had embarrassed them in the eyes of their provincial subjects. Word had reached him of a small riot that had broken out on a small island to the south of the main continent. Thousands were burning him in effigy, cursing the Empire and threatening revolt. News of the loss of Remus had been impossible to keep secret for very long. The sister world could be seen on a clear night and it was obvious that it was now a dead world. Silent and glassy hanging low over the horizon. Marek had been tempted to order a full scale retaliation for the riot. But an idea struck him. If he ordered the rioting civilians to die, the military could turn on them and it would be a pointless waste of a battle, time that the Empire did not have. So he decided to do something no other Sith lord had ever even attempted. He decided to inspire the people. Marek transmitted his holographic image across the entire planet. "My Romulan subjects, we have all suffered a horrible blow at the treacherous hands of the Federation and the Klingon empire. While our fleet was away engaging a Borg fleet that was on the cusp of launching a full scale invasion on the Romulan provinces your valiant home guard was surprised by a fleet of Federation and Klingon warships, bent on destroying billions of lives and ripping the economic heart of the Romulan provinces. I am sorry to report that our fleet although victorious against the Borg," simultaneously a hologram of the battle against the Borg was playing in the background of his transmission. "the Home guard was unable to prevent a horrible attack that ended with the death of over 6 billion of your fellow Romulans and our loyal subjects. What is the Empire's response to this unwarranted and savage act?" He looked down on the worldwide audience. Many of the rioters had stopped, most looked up in a mix of sorrow and anger as images of the Battle of Remus played out in the background, ending with the detonation of the device that ended all life on the planet. Many of the Romulans fought back tears as the hologram focused on the now dead world. "Revenge!" Marek shouted. "We will descend upon your enemies like a tempest, they have sown holocausts and deaths now they shall reap the whirlwind of our righteous rage!" Marek snarled. Some of the Romulans began shouting encouragement. "The Klingons will learn to lick your boot heels, they have lived their lives by the sword, now they will most assuredly die by that same sword." More Romulans began shouting, many chanting. "The Federation will be taken down from their high and mighty lofty towers and we will burn their so called superior culture to the ground and salt the earth where it lies. In the end, Remus' blood will have brought the future of a Romulan empire that spans the entire galaxy." The holographic background depicted a galaxy and the insignia of the Romulan Empire coupled with the Imperial seal, great green fingers slowly unfurled form the center of the twin seals, clutching the galaxy in a fist. "And our empire will never know an end." Marek whispered he final part like a solemn vow. There was absolute silence for a long moment all throughout Romulus. It was as if the entire world was holding its collective breath. Marek stood towering above them, arms crossed across his chest, waiting. "Marek! Marek!" the chant began. It started with several Romulans scattered throughout the cities on Romulus but soon the chant rose in strength as the hologram switched to an enormous armada orbiting Romulus, Star destroyers flanked the Iron Fist like great ivory war hounds. Wings of warbirds stretched out around the entire fleet, like a sea of green. They flashed along, quickly moving among the massive Star Destroyers like remora on a shark. Hundreds of warbirds gathered together with the mighty Imperial fleet. The citizens of Romulus had not seen a sight like this even during the height of the Dominion war. "Marek! Marek!" The chant rose like a war cry as hundreds became thousands, many with fists raised in the air in time with the chant. Raw fury was on the eyes and lips of those that called for Marek to be their avenging angel. "Point the way to our enemy, show us the way to vengeance!" Marek shouted, and as one, the crowd roared, pointing to the heavens, to the cluster of stars where the tiny Sol system lay nestled. They were no longer a million disparate voices, but one unified voice, and then, unbidden, another chant began, it was the Romulan anthem. The masses began singing it as they watched their armada slowly break from orbit. They knew now that blood would be exacted for what had occurred on Remus. Marek, the avenging angel as he was slowly becoming known, would not allow this crime to go unpunished. "As we leave you, be happy, for already, your valiant forces have begun striking blows for freedom and justice. The neutral zone has collapsed, the Klingon border posts which had stood imposing for so many decades are burning." The hologram shifted to various views of different battles. Warbirds swarmed around lone Federation starships on patrol. They decloaked and opened fire without pause. Wings of warbirds flashed by Klingon outposts, plasma torpedoes exploding with a cascade of fire that embraced the entire outpost. Klingon ships fled, not conceiving that such a force was flying against them. And the hologram returned to the sight of the great war fleet as it departed. "We shall return victorious and we shall not rest until all the war criminals are brought back to Romulus for trial. We are in this together now. Your brave sons and daughters stand side by side with your Imperial brothers as we bring the galaxy under our wing. Work hard, build quickly and help your fellow Romulans as we embark on the Grand Offensive." The hologram shifted again back to Marek. He looked down on the people like some black robed God of vengeance. "There is no other way than victory." The crowds roared their approval as his image wavered and turned off. He stood proudly for a moment before the holotransmitter before turning away. "Masterful, Lord Marek. You were as inspiring as the Emperor himself, why you yourself would make a great emperor of this backwater!" Kratas exclaimed. Marek paused and turned his head slowly to regard the young commander with a sharp penetrating glare. Daala was uncertain what was going to happen, but the sour look on Mara Jade's features told him that Kratas had certainly said something wrong. "Because your service to us has been flawless and loyal and because I can glean that you meant nothing by those words, I will let you live, Commander." Marek replied, voice like a tomb. Kratas blanched. Mare stalked off the bridge. Mara remained behind for a moment. "What did I say?" Kratas stammered. "You insinuated to a Sith Lord that they could or should supplant the Emperor. You even went so far to suggest that he begin his own empire here and place himself as emperor. The Sith are extremely sensitive to such suggestions. The last man to suggest something like that to Lord Vader found himself in Vader's private fortress watching bore worms eat his vital organs and then have the process begin all over again as medical droids regenerated the organs." Mara smiled coolly. "I do believe you can still hear his screams if you walk down the right corridor. Be thankful, Commander, Lord Marek was uncharacteristically merciful." Mara added then turned on her heel and left. 


	24. Chapter 24

pre style="word-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"Drayson smiled grimly as another volley of heavy turbolaser fire ripped into the swirling bright light of the wormhole's event horizon. Explosions rippled deep within after each strike, confirmation of the Adjudicator's power and accuracy. He pointedly ignored the pyrotechnic display outside of his ship, port side aft. The Federation station Deep Space Nine had warned them several times to not approach the wormhole.

The Adjudicator continued on, observing radio silence as they slid into firing position. The station then threatened a violent response if the Adjudicator did not immediately withdraw. Drayson nearly laughed out loud at the utter emptiness of the threat coupled with the voice of the one issuing the warning, she sounded like an unsure child.

As soon as their weapons began powering up the station suddenly revealed hidden phaser arrays and torpedo launchers. The station began firing on them. Drayson contemplated blowing them out of the stars for the insolence and defiance. But instead, he decided that his silence and the Adjudicator's utter lack of response as Deep Space Nine concentrated all its fire on them was a powerful statement on its own.

His tactical officer and his new Vulcan liaison, Xon, both concurred that two more volleys would be more than enough to collapse the wormhole. Drayson was impatient. He had dispatched the Executioner ahead of him to begin the offensive in the Klingon empire. He wanted to be there when the fleet finally bulled its way to the Klingon homeworld.

He understood the importance of the target and why the wormhole needed to be closed. It denied one of the most powerful military forces direct access to this quadrant of space. But it still irked Drayson that he had been relegated this duty. Daala assured him that it was a sign of the supreme confidence Marek had in him that he was assigned the vital assignments. Drayson did not see it that way. Conquest of the Klingon empire was something that interested him, controlling Vulcan, rebuffing Federation counterattacks, they were the meat of his interests. Collapsing wormholes and doing battle with inconsequential space stations, alone, without a fleet was definitely not what he wanted.

He would bring distinction on himself during this Klingon campaign, he promised himself.

"Sir, we're picking up an energy spike within the wormhole. It looks like something is emerging out of the event horizon." His tactical officer warned.

"Standby on all tertiary weapons, we may need to get a snap shot off." Drayson warned and stalked over to the view port just as an object flashed out of the swirling maelstrom of light.

"What is that?" he demanded pointing at the vessel.

The tactical officer spoke up. "Unknown sir, though it resembles an Agressor-class Star Destroyer!"

"Commence bombardment with all batteries, I want it destroyed or disabled before it gets away."

He could feel the Adjudicator starting to rumble under his feet as the engines switched on to pursuit mode, accelerating the leviathan of a warship towards the rapidly retreating vessel. Within seconds flashes of deadly emerald beams lanced out after the frigate.

/pre 


End file.
